Y13
by NonaryNathan999
Summary: He didn't like cliques because it felt like they would inadvertently reject him. He didn't like break time because it emphasized how isolated he was from everyone else. He didn't like the teachers for making him do group works because it made him feel out of place. He felt like nobody needed him. He then met Yang Xiao Long. Cover done by Aeso3
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own the Persona series or RWBY. Everything belongs to their respected owners.**

"Now let's get out of the classroom, kids. Make a group of two and hold hands with each other."

The teacher clapped her hands together to make sure she had every single child's attention when she said such words. It was a small requirement of her job that all of the elementary school students were not harmed or lost.

"Hey, let's make a group!"

"Okay!"

"Is it okay if I'm with you?"

"Sure! Let's hold hands!"

Most of the kids were extremely fast as their hands were like blurs. Many mingled since they chose to partner up with their friend. As each pair huddled together to make large groups, soon most of them surrounded the teacher who stood patiently in wait for all of the students to do what she had said.

"Everyone's in a group now, right?" She asked before noticing one things silently.

Taking the long way around the kids who surrounded her, she strolled over towards a single boy who was all alone and standing in a single spot. Their blue hair was fair long, covering almost half of their face while being a slightly bit longer than shoulder length. There was a slightly emotionless, neutral, dead look in his right eye as the left pupil was covered by his hair. His t-shirt was white with a pair of blue shorts covering his bottom half. Regular black sneakers were seen with white socks.

"Minato, you don't have a partner?" The teacher asked the child who stood frozen in place with an expression that made it look like he was slightly gloomy.

Looking up at the teacher, the boy nodded as his hair shook in the same way his head did. "Yeah…" He answered quietly.

"That's his own fault. He's so silent."

"And he's weird."

"He looks so shady…"

His face didn't change, even at the words that he could clearly hear from the elementary school students that were his age. His expression was still the same way as people viewed him; boring, emotionless, shady, dead.

 **Y13**

"Huh? Minato?"

A few middle-school students looked over to a fellow classmate who had asked a question about the boy who still kept his gaze as neutral as possible while being dead quiet. Turning their heads, they all saw the boy just sitting in his seat while staring forward.

"He's not a bad guy." One of the boys stated with a shrug of his shoulders. Either way, the look in their eyes completely said that Minato was not normal. "But he looks a little bit shady…"

"Not only that," A girl added with a wave of her hand. "As a guy, his hair is just too long. I mean, have you seen the size of it?" She gestured with her head. "No one ever knows what he's thinking about either…"

Once more, Minato ignored the words that people thought he couldn't hear as class began to start once again. Almost immediately, the teacher put all of the students in the room to work. "Today, we are going to try an experiment. So, just divide yourselves into groups of five." Most of the students were quick, pretty well acquainted with one another. But when all of the shuffling was finished, the teacher noticed something. "Ah, one student is left. Can any group take him in?"

"Eh?"

…Eh…? Did they really think of him like that?

 **Y13**

He accidentally dropped his pencil to the ground.

The clattering on his writing tool was practically deafening inside the silent classroom. The rolling of the pencil echoed against the walls that were like a chasm. It was the only object in the room with life as it was the only thing moving. It was interesting, something so inanimate moving so freely unlike the students surrounding him.

No one bothered giving him even a glance for a second. Many had their hands resting on their chins while staring at papers they weren't even writing on. Other had their eyes closed while focusing in thought of what to do. Some spun pencils in their hands in a hypnotic trance. A couple stared into space. But there was one common thing.

No one even looked at Minato.

It was a fact that it was natural for people to ignore him. For thirteen years he had grown used to it. During small group discussions, his group mates would blatantly ignore him. In their eyes, their feelings were clearly reflected. Almost as easy to read like an open picture book. Their pupils would always ask 'why is he still here?'

He had grown accustomed to it.

There was then a sound of chiming and it brought the classroom back to life.

"Damn it, I was so close to getting it done as well!"

"Come on, we have a test coming up and I want to review a couple of things before class starts!"

Slowly getting up, Minato put his notebook, textbook, and pencil case together neatly. Grabbing everything, he slightly turned his shoulder.

"Hey! Wait up, Yang!"

A fellow student rammed his way right past Minato, not even taking notice that they had collided with his shoulder and caused him to drop everything he had in order. The books clattered to the ground. His pencil case opened, spilling the contents everywhere. Only he was the one that noticed what had happened as the one who caused it was already out of the classroom.

"…" He simply settled for staring at everything sprawled out on the floor. Honestly, he wasn't surprised. It was no shock that he was unnoticed.

"Shoot, forgot my notebook. You guys go on ahead."

With his head nodded downwards, he didn't see a girl step into the room and blink with a slightly surprised expression on her face. Her blonde hair was pretty long for a girl her age, already reaching the middle of her back. Slipping in while taking a couple of steps forwards, she made her way to what must have been her desk as she grabbed her notebook from the furniture. "Aren't you going for class?" She asked, slowly and silently looked at the fallen contents that he was staring at. "There's only a couple minutes left until class starts."

With those parting words, she turned around and left. Minato was left alone once again, only to look at his fallen things. He didn't even lift a muscle. Only a few seconds passed, but it seemed like an eternity. He blinked when he saw a hand place itself onto his stuff.

"Seriously at least pick them up!" The blonde stated, handing the textbook into Minato's hands. "What's with you spacing out like that anyways… Ken."

Minato watched with a bit of awe and surprise when the girl shoved the large hard-covered material into his hands. But his face fell back into a flat gaze when she said the wrong name. Looking away, his expression was not that pleased yet still managed to retain his usual, dead look.

"…Why are you looking at me like that?" The girl asked in confusion.

"That's not my name." He replied back simply.

"Ahh…" The girl breathed in realization. "Sorry about that, Junpei."

"Not even close."

"I'm just joking, Akihiko."

"No."

"Shinjiro!"

"Nothing of the sorts."

Minato then slowly began to realize. She wasn't ignoring him. Rather than that, she was interacting with him. Even more odd, it seemed that she was doing so by her own free will.

 **Y13**

"Yang…"

Turning the faucet in the washroom, Yang Xiao Long looked over to one of her friends as they stood right next to her. "Oh, you needed to go as well huh?" She asked, looking down and began to focus on scrubbing her hands.

"No, that isn't it."

"That isn't it?" The blonde questioned, raising an eyebrow. "You're in the toilet after all. What else would it be used for." She then gasped in a dramatic expression. "Don't tell me, you're going to hide in the stall and-!"

"Wait, what?! N-no, no!" They took in a deep breath. "Lately, you've been really close with Minato."

Hearing the name, Yang stared at her friend before shrugging. "It's sort of thanks to you guys." She began rinsing her hands.

"This isn't' like you to interact with Minato. Of all people…"

"Why not?" Yang asked, turning the faucet to shut the water flow. "You'll realize that he's a pretty cool guy once you start talking to him."

"Yang, I'll be blunt. You should stop hanging out with him. He's so depressing. Speaking of which, have you seen his face? He looks like he's dead on the inside. As if… all the life had been sucked out of him. He's bad news, even more so when he gets angry… Are listening to me Ya-!"

The blonde cut her friend off by flicking several drops of water on their face. But with the amount of force that was used, each bit of water hurt upon impact. Shaking her hand to get rid of the excess water, Yang's face was partially scrunched up into a frown, but still managed to hold her light features. "I wonder who's responsible for Minato gloominess, hmm? Plus you shouldn't judge a book by its cover."

Taking a step closer, her eyes flashed red for a second. "In any case, it'll still be bad new when anyone gets angry. It's not just Minato."

"But-!"

"You're only unwilling to accept that I've been taken away by and have more fun with Minato, right?" Yang stepped right past her friend as they glared at her. Not even looking back, she waved her hand nonchalantly. "Guess I just made some bad friends then." As she exited the bathroom, she looked to her side and saw Minato leaning against the wall. "Waiting to ambush me? Or were you thinking of peeking in on me?"

Minato only settled for staring at her. Despite his semi-emotionless, expressionless face, she could almost tell what he was thinking and/or was feeling. Right now, he was not that amused. "None of those were even close." He answered.

Laughing in amusement, she draped her arm around his shoulder as the two of them walked down the halls.

 **I am really staring to not like myself at the moment. So… MinatoxYang… This is awkward. Looking over all of the Persona/RWBY fics, I noticed that there is almost next to no specific pairing whatsoever. Mainly because most of them contain people from the Persona world transported over to Remnant. I'm a part of that last sentence. Also... none of them really have a specific pairing planed from the beginning as well.**

 **Well no more! I hope that with this fic, it will inspire more people to not only stop people from teleporting their favourite people into Remnant, but it will also have them create interesting pairs and interesting writing. But knowing my luck, none of the sort will ever happen.**

 **Minato's fighting style... It kind of does contains using blades... only if he wants to. All I can say is... Thanks to King of Fighters 14... There's a specific character that I absolutely love due to their personality as well as fighting style. So... let's see what I can make from it.**

 **His Semblance... What is the number I'm choosing? Another small clue is a specific word I'm been using continuously thorough the chapter. It's pretty easy to notice once you figure out the number bit. Not that anyone will really care. However... I will be taking away his wild card ability. In exchange... I'll find a way to branch out with his Semblance.**

 **More of his backstory will hopefully be in the future.**

 **No flames please.**


	2. Chapter 2

**I do not own the Persona series or RWBY. Everything belongs to their respected owners.**

"So what are you up to, Minato?"

The blue-haired boy slowly looked up and turned his head to see the blonde girl that started to see him for the past week staring right over his shoulder. "Studying." He answered, having his eyes focus on the textbook in front of him. But as pupils drifted, he noticed other people just staring at him. Well… he should maybe consider himself a bit fortunate that he was at least getting attention…

On second thought, it wasn't the kind of attention he would have appreciated.

Yang meanwhile stared at the boy. His clothing was certainly something… average to say the least. It didn't make him stand out, completely unlike her own clothing. He wore a black jacket with a loose black bow tie. A white, collared shirt was underneath and tucked into a pair of black pants that was held up by a grey belt. His shoes were nothing special really either, just being a color of dark-blue or black.

"Hey, Minato, anything wrong?"

Minato looked up from his book and turned his head once more. Staring at Yang, he shifted uncomfortably under a surprisingly intense gaze. He… supposed that he wasn't sure how to talk with the blonde. Even with a week of her around him, he was not exactly sure about what words to speak with her.

He even knew of her reputation, being one of the more well-known students due to her nature among the school. It was odd though to see that she had some friends before him but now she's never been seen with them since her interaction with him. He found himself slightly frowning at the fact that he just ruined a few friendships when he didn't mean to.

"Okay, there has to be something on your mind. Seriously, you're frowning."

That made him pause. The blue-haired boy looked at the blonde whose eyes expressed a varied mix of emotions. He then realized that she was concerned about him. It was… heartwarming to Minato despite his dead, bland nature.

However, it didn't exactly reassure him that he was not in the wrong. Yang considered herself his… friend. How was he supposed to explain this situation to her in the most easiest way possible?

There was always the option of lying to the girl but something told Minato about Yang that lies wouldn't work on the other. She was observant enough to see that something was wrong with him. Telling the truth though… that was an outcome he had no idea where it would go.

"Minato?"

"I feel bad for you not seeing your friends anymore because of me."

"…Oh."

If the male between the two of them hadn't been ingrained with years of constantly being dead (in a sense), he would have run to the nearest corner to cringe at himself the moment he accidentally blurted out the words. The silence was suffocatingly awkward after that as he sunk into regret, reliving the last minute and mentally listing any other thing he could have said that would have resulted in a less uncomfortable situation.

Thankfully Yang decided to be the one to break the silence first. "…So," The blonde gave a smile almost as if nothing had happened between them. "Want to go grab lunch from the cafeteria?"

"…Uh." Minato intelligently grunted.

 **Y13**

The cafeteria at Signal Academy was fairly average considering how large the student population was. Older students that decided to take the Hunter/Huntress elective were expected to keep their weapons in their lockers when it came down to entering the eating area. Many of the older students also brought their own lunches since they would be considered much healthier than school meals as well as the need to eat quickly before getting to the next class.

So among the many young students, Yang and Minato both stood in line in an awkward tense silence among the two of them. It was even more uncomfortable since many of the students around them gave them, mainly Minato, weird looks in their redirection.

Finally, they had arrived to the front of the line where two women and a man ranging from their late-twenties to late-thirties were busily working with only the sounds of sizzling and cooking between them. "Hi, I'll have the…" Yang looked up at the menu for a second. "Spaghetti in meat sauce please."

As the blonde paid for her meal and dropped some Lien on the counter while grabbing her food, Minato walked over to the counter and look at his options. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a could of bills before eyeing the sign above. "…Spaghetti in alfredo sauce." He stated.

The food that was plated for him was simple but not completely unappealing, just a bowl of pasta, some bits of broccoli, and white sauce poured on top. At least this was more to eat than the meals he would have where he lived. Not wanting to look impolite, he nodded to the staff who nodded back in acknowledgement before moving back to their tasks at hand.

The blonde and blue-haired boy left, food in hand to find a comfortable place to sit and eat. Many people gave them second glances as two students with perhaps the most opposite personalities were together in the halls. Minato found himself even staring down a few of them as their search continued.

"Hmm. Oh, what about here?"

"…Sure."

The blonde plopped down onto the cold, ceramic floor as she snuggled in-between the corner of the hall. She liked spots like those since they were easier to lean on rather than a flat wall. About to eat, she looked up her companion expectedly. Minato sighed as he too sat next to the blonde, not touching his food in favor of watching the blonde enthusiastically dig into her meal.

"Yang?"

She slurped up a noodle. "What is it?" She asked, whipping her lips with her arm.

"Do you… regret hanging out with me?"

"Why would I think that?" The question seemed to make Minato face the blonde with a face that looked the slightest bit upset to the blonde. Now this was going somewhere Yang did not expect at all. In fact, she didn't even know what Minato was talking about.

"Why? Well… I've basically ruined your friendship with everyone you liked." He gestured to himself, placing his bowl on the ground while gesturing to himself. "You stopped seeing them. For what? A dead, walking corpse who is separated from every other living soul. Are you not angry? Sad?" Yang just watched the boy develop an unknown feeling as she had forgotten about her food already. Other students began to overhear Minato's words and started to crowd around at a distance. But Minato was too lost in his words to notice or didn't care. There was something inside that fueled him onwards. "Don't you think I'm dead as well? Soulless? Weird? A freak? Why-"

He paused mid-speech as two gentle and warm hands firmly cupped his cheeks. A pair of hypnotic, lilac eyes gazed into the reflective silver ones. But Minato could have sworn he saw his own reflection in hers.

"Is that what you think of yourself?" The voice was still hers, but the usual cheeriness and energy was nowhere to be found. A low, serious tone replaced them both instead. The girl looked at the boy dead in the eyes, her expression not pitying but sorrowful like she was hurt that the other thought so low of himself.

The male's mouth suddenly felt dry. It was odd how he found her so intimidating when she was as bright as the sun and gentle as a warm breeze for the past week. Not really trusting his mouth he hesitantly shook his head instead. The hands on his face loosened and fell back to her side. A small part of the boy wanted those hands to stay where they were though, the warmth being very comforting.

"Doesn't it bother you?" Minato's voice had lost its usual neutral beat. He was quiet, but it uncharacteristically cracked much more than it should have for a boy his age as if he had carried many burdens for years. The crowd of students shuffled slightly closer with intent to hear the blonde's answer. "I… destroyed the bonds you created. Shattered them like glass without intention… But the effect was still strong."

"No, what I did doesn't bother me at all." Yang's gaze never wavered, her eyes straightly directed to Minato. "You're soulless? You have Aura don't you? A Semblance as well? That's tons of proof that everyone is already wrong about you. Who am I to judge you on your appearance anyways? Who am I to reject a person who I barely know? Despite the opportunities to walk away, you were kind and willing enough to give me a chance. Despite the opportunities to join us, my old friends tried to keep you all alone while never giving you the chance. Since then, nothing has changed the fact or my opinion that you are a weird person."

Her voice was clear and even with her expression not betraying even a hint of hesitation, making it as clear as night that she had meant every word. It was like for the person her speech was directed to could feel like he could breath again. It felt like the weight the hung over his shoulders had gotten lighter a small part of it being lifted by those words that so clearly accepted him for who or what he was.

The serious, rigid features softened on the blonde's face as a soft smile graced Minato. "I don't care about those who don't care about you. I however do care about a friend who is in need of company and help. You can call yourself whatever you want. None of that matters. You are Minato Aristo and I know that he's a good person."

A warm silence seemed to settle over the scene. The boy couldn't help the twitch at the ends of his mouth. But that was still noticed by the blonde as she returned to her playful self as everyone else around them seemed to lose interest in the conversation as if nothing had happened. "Well, if that didn't help change the minds of people, I have no idea what will." Yang grinned while gesturing to the students walking away.

She laughed heartily and hit Minato on the back, causing the boy to topple face first into his untouched food. A small glare from the male made the blonde laugh even harder. The boy however noticed how relaxed he had become though as there used to always be a bit of tense feeling in his shoulders. Another twitch of his lips jolted upwards.

The blonde was so loud, yet had managed to open doors that had been locked and rusted over years of solitude to his heart. Even though it was just a crack so far, it was still something.

Finishing their food and dumping their plates and bowls into a garbage can, they were heading to their next class. Taking a shortcut through the cafeteria, an unexpected event happened.

"Ooh, some Lien." Yang said to herself as Minato walked on to the other side of the table she was next to while traveling to the door that was nearby. Bending her knees and grabbing the card, she let out a happy tune.

Moving her foot though… she banged her toe against table leg… very hard.

"Ow!" Yang cried out in pain, hopping on one foot and making Minato freeze while looking over to the blonde. "This stupid-!" She growled out with her eyes turning red. With a powerful backhand smash, she flipped the table over and sent it flying to the wall. Grinding her teeth with panting with frustration, she looked at herself and realized that her hair was on fire. She didn't feel any pain though.

She just felt… stronger…

"No way…" The blonde said to herself, bringing up her to admire herself. She then looked up, "Minato! I think I just discovered my Sem-… Minato?" Her head craned left and right but couldn't find the boy.

"Over here…" His voice was muffled.

Looking over, she gasped. "Oh shit!" Dashing over to the wall, she stood right in front of the table she had smashed away from her. The appliance was glued right against the wall and was slowly falling down. Stepping out of the way, the blonde prevented herself from being crushed by the table. Creating a giant dent in the wall was Minato as his entire front was stuck on the surface. "Minato, are you okay?!"

"I feel like sunshine right now." Minato responded dryly while being muffled by the wall he was stuck against.

 **There we go. Some more bonding time between MinYang… Get it? Instead of YinYang it's… Min… Yang…**

 **No flames please.**


	3. Chapter 3

**I do not own the Persona series or RWBY. Everything belongs to their respected owners.**

Minato was tired.

No, that was a sore understatement to what he was feeling. He was absolutely exhausted and the weight of his body and sweating were only making his limbs scream louder to just give up. But he didn't he wouldn't, he couldn't. He knew this feeling, and what had happened before when it happened to him.

He was aware of the mixture of emotions that everyone gave him as he tried to make his way through the halls, but he didn't let those get to him. Maybe he should just skip school with his condition. It would a lot safer for that to happen.

He looked down to his hands, he saw black smoke pouring out of his palms. The substance would disappear though as fast as if would appear. Minato frowned at his predicament. He tried to move, but then his vision began to blur from reality and his body felt heavy and unresponsive. A sense of fear and confusion clutched inside Minato as his mouth failed to make any sound but a sickening gurgle. Then there was darkness and a sense of falling.

"Yo, Minato, you fee- OH SHIT, MINATO, ARE YOU OKAY?!"

Yang spent no hesitation as she rushed over to her friend's side. It may have been a while, but she could easily recognize a sick person when she saw one. Without even thinking, she lifted the boy up bridal style and rushed over to the nurse's office since they were right in front of the school gates.

 **Y13**

"MISS VIRIDI, MIND IF I TAKE A BED!?"

The lady sitting inside the nurse's office jumped at the sheer volume Yang had released as the blonde had literally kicked the door open while running in. Turning around to scold the girl, she grew silent when she saw who was in Yang's arms. "What happened to Minato?" Viridi asked as she took large, quick steps over. The lady also noted the panic on Yang's face as she looked down at the unconscious boy. Feeling with gloved hands the boy's forehead, she swore under her breath. "His fever is high. Too high in fact. Set him down on the bed right there. I'm going to try to find some antibodies from my cabinet."

Something was certainly wrong with Minato. It was unknown where Minato lived, but there was no way the environment would be so unsanitary and non-sterile for the boy to have a fever this bad. The school was super clean as well, so this place was not an issue at all.

Once the blonde laid the boy down on a nearby bed, Yang practically seemed to pace around the room as the nurse rummaged through the cabinets. The blonde wanted to curse whatever had gotten Minato this sick. It was as if he were dying.

She soon began muttering to herself all sorts of ways on handling the sick that she once heard from her former friends. "Can't do chicken soup… There aren't any green onions around… Maybe use some fresh water from the Atlas Alps in the vending machines? Mistral herbal medicine could be used if there is any around. Grounding the bone armor of a Grimm is and feeding it to him out of the question. He definitely can't bathe in in sulfur rock fresh from a volcano…"

Needless to say Viridi, who hadn't once left the cabinets through the whole ordeal to find the proper medicine, was earning herself quite a headache. It was so dang hard to find some simple antibodies around. Not only that, but the list Yang kept muttering to herself was not helping even in the slightest.

"Yang, if you want to help, shut up so I can focus on finding this damn medicine." The nurse growled in annoyance as it practically commanded the blonde and had her immediately follow.

All was silent other than the irregular breathing of the sick male. "C-c-cold." Minato managed to groan out. Immediately, he was buried under a few blankets that Yang snatched from the other beds and threw them on top of him. Viridi groaned. For one of the better students of Signal Academy, the blonde did some questionable things at times.

"H…hot…" Minato's muffled voice was heard and just as quickly the blankets were torn off.

"Yang, there may be some bags of ice inside the freezer over there." Viridi gestured towards the fridge that was nearby. "Come on! I know that those damn antibodies are around here somewhere!"

Doing as she was told, Yang rushed over to the fridge and opened the door to see several bags of ice with some bottles of water. Grabbing one of the small sacks, she left the door open in a hurry and made her way back to Minato. Putting the bag of ice on top of his forehead, it took only a few seconds for cubes to be reduced to water.

His temperature was rising at an alarming rate to say the least. The room was almost becoming unbearably hot from just the mere heat radiating off the bedridden figure.

"Aha! Found them!" Viridi exclaimed, pulling out a small bottle full of little pills. Rushing over to Minato's side, she opened his mouth. "Now he just needs-"

A large, white gloved hand cut the nurse off by smacking her across the room.

Yang found herself meeting a same fate as she was sent careening towards the door. As her head banged against the wall, she groaned and hissed in pain as she looked to see what had hit her. Shaking her head to rid herself of the stinging sensation, she saw it.

Followed by white gloves came the head. The skull-like helm, white like bone. It glared through the hole of reality the hands had just torn and roared. It was a monstrous sound, deep and resonant, rich with bloodstained mirth. The body slipped through. Black and cloaked. Man-sized coffins arced over its back in a twisted parody of wings. Surrounded its shoulders like a ring of shields. A sword strapped to its waist. A simple blade never seemed so savage from a distance.

It howled, as if in agony. In its rage, it smashed a hole through the wall. It grabbed curtains and ripped them apart. Hands on a desk, it hurled the furniture across the room.

Yang watched in stupor and jaw dropped at the being. Silently, she could only watch it thrash in agony. At least she thought it was that. Watching the thing rampage around the room, she shakily got back up. But then she noticed something.

It never strayed too far from Minato. Despite the random, bestial movement, it also stayed close to the bedridden boy.

Minato's breathing was becoming loud and erratic, his body temperature had grown so much that the ice bags in the open fridge had melted. Tears were welling up and falling down flushed cheeks, sizzling as they ran down. It was an agonizing sight to see the boy thrashing around.

The beast released a howl meanwhile, almost seeing to destroy everything around in sync with Minato's actions.

That… Did that mean those two were connected? That was Minato's Semblance?

Well that was her conclusion, and she was not going to take no as an answer until it was confirmed. Seeing that connection between the two, Yang knew she had to at least do something or else that thing would destroy this entire room and maybe even help if it even arrived.

Looking over to the unconscious Viridi, Yang slowly made her way to the nurse and saw the bottle of pills that was still in the female's hands. Taking it, Yang took a small trip to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water.

She then turned to stare at the bed Minato still laid on and the beast was on all fours, panting like a dog and releasing guttered growls.

"Hey." Yang started to speak. It looked up, responsive to her voice. It had no pupils, but she could tell it was glaring at her. "I'm going to help him feel better. Mind moving out of the way?" She gestured over to Minato.

Once more, the being growled, shakily getting back up to its feet. As Yang moved closer, the construct moved its hand to punch her away. She was ready for the attack this time though as she raised her free hand to block it. She skidded back a bit, but kept her grip against the fist.

She frowned, this was going to be a bit more annoying than she thought. Watching the second hand go towards her, she ducked and looked over towards Minato. "Oi, Minato, can you hear me?" She called out, avoiding cleaving coffins as the monster had spun around. "I know you can! No way you can sleep through that kind of fever!"

Really. She was sweating from the temperature of the room. It felt like she was under the summer sun in a desert that was placed in the center of a volcano. Bit of an exaggeration, but the heat was intense. "Come on, man! It's me, Yang! Mind calling this thing off so I can help you?!"

It was only a short bit, but she was already having a difficult time avoiding the beast. The heat was making her sweat badly. She was in her school uniform as well, so the upper-half of her body was suffering and making her movement sluggish.

But when she said her name, the monster paused for a second. That was more than enough time for her to dash over to the blue-haired boy who was bedridden. But then she saw the thing turn at her violently. "Oh come on! Can't you at least get this thing off my butt! I'm trying to help you!"

The monster shook its head, almost as if the skull were throbbing and about it burst. It roared once more, thrashing around in place before charging straight towards Yang.

"…Yang…"

It stopped. It stopped in place as Minato gasped her name. It stared. The monster still looked in pain, but it stayed silent this time, choosing to stare at the blonde girl in front of it who was at Minato's side.

Yang froze, feeling its eyes boring into her. It was as if it were sizing her up. Her brown furrowed as her mouth took on a frown. Reaching down, she grabbed his hand. She winced at the burning sensation that was upon her skin, as if it were on fire. But she had her Aura to keep herself from actually being injured.

The monster looked down, seeing the proof of a bond she held with the boy. "Please," It looked up to see the blonde glaring at it. As if the being were the cause of Minato's suffering. "Let me help him. I promise… I'll help the pain go away."

It continued to growl, but the sound was lower and not as vicious. As if hesitant, a piece of it flaked off. But the bit was transparent. Finally, it released a defeated pant. It soon shattered. Like glass, the pieces gleamed as they fell to the ground to only disappear as soon as they touch the ground.

Whipping around while releasing her grip on his hand, Yang popped the bottle of antibodies open. "Better not spit these out!" She exclaimed as she grabbed a couple and shoved them down Minato's mouth. It was slightly easy due to his open mouth. Right after, she ripped the water bottle open and poured the transparent liquid down his mouth.

Forcing the jaw shut, she dropped the objects in her hands in favor of forcing Minato to swallow.

The reaction was instantaneous. Minato calmed down, his tear soaked eyes fluttered shut tired from the ordeal and the room temperature went down to more tolerable levels. Yang let out a breath or relief as she felt herself just drop to the ground.

Looking over, the doors opened and several teachers were in sight.

"Now you all show up." Yang sighed, running a hand through her hair.

 **Y13**

"So you couldn't stay home because that would happen, huh."

Yang made this statement as it was after school and she was accompanying Minato back to the place where she lived. The blue-haired boy nodded his head.

Yang only nodded her head as well, in a bit of understanding. That summon could have gone on a rampage and hurt his family after all. "Hey," She punched the side of his arm playfully, still making him wince at the large amount of force that was put into it. "At least you're up and about. Other than Miss Viridi, no on else was hurt. Good news, right?"

"I guess." Minato nodded his head. "I'm just surprised that I've just been suspended rather than expelled for what I've done."

"It wasn't your fault really." Yang shrugged her shoulders. Still walking she turned and saw that Minato was no longer next to her. Turning around, she saw the boy staring at a door and went right back to him. "What's up?"

"We're at my home."

Her eyes took their time to look over to the building he was looking at. She frowned. "Minato… this the Vale orphanage." Looking back to the boy, she saw him nod his head as if he knew that would be her reaction. "…Oh." Yang stated after a moment of realization.

Minato had not parents.

No relative to take him in.

Yang took a bit of time to think. "Do you want to meet my little sister?" She asked, gaining Minato attention. "I'm sure that your day will get better just by interacting with her alone."

"…" Minato blinked but then nodded his head. "Sure." He answered.

"Okay then, onwards." Yang marched on, leading the way. "She's just waiting for me to pick her up before we go back to our house. You can even hang out with us until you have to go back." Minato didn't reply, but Yang just assumed that he was thinking.

The trip was short. Nothing special really happened. Arriving on the school grounds the was presumed to be for elementary students, the blonde looked around while the boy watched from a very small distance. "Hey, Ruby!" Yang suddenly began waving.

Minato looked over to where Yang was waving and saw a small girl waving back at her. The girl had blackish-red hair with piercing silver eyes and pale skin. She wore what seemed to be a gothic black and red outfit, black boots, and a red hooded cape.

As the girl ran up to them, Yang turned to face Minato for a second with a grin. "Want to know what kind of character she is?"

Minato raised an eyebrow at the sentence Yang had just spoken but stayed silent. He then looked over to the girl who was still running over. "…How is she related to you?" He asked.

"Different mother." Yang replied quickly and Minato accepted it. "Now watch this." She faced the incoming girl known as Ruby. "Hey Sis, I want you to meet my friend Minato. Minato, this is Ruby."

The smaller girl blinked before shifting slightly behind Yang in a small, shy fashion. "Uh… hi." Ruby greeted meekly as Minato stared at her. She then looked back to Yang. "Does dad know about him?

"Nope." Yang shook her head, draping a hand over her sister's shoulder and bending her knees. She then began to speak in a low voice that only the three of them could hear. "But he doesn't need to worry. It's just me, him, and his dingly dangly part."

"…" Minato didn't even want to react to that.

Ruby however had a confused look on her face. "His what?"

"The ding dong." Yang replied.

"What?" Ruby asked.

"Manly hood." Yang stated.

"What?" Ruby repeated.

"The sausage."

"What?"

"The tallywacker."

"What?"

"The royal specter."

"What?

"The giant hand."

"What?"

"The third leg."

"What?"

"The leviathan."

"What?"

"The pink snake."

"What?"

"The Johnny come-lately."

"Who?"

"Richard…"

"…"

"…Penis."

"Who's Richard Penis?" Ruby asked.

Yang turned back to Minato and hugged her sister while Ruby kept a confused expression. "Isn't she just so cute, adorable, and innocent?!" Yang exclaimed.

Minato gave her a flat stare. "I'm more concerned about your vocabulary."

 **I have no idea why I even added in that last bit. I'll be sure to delete it if you all suggest want me to. Such a moment does seem to be a bit strange to put in.**

 **No flames please.**


	4. Chapter 4

**I do not own the Persona series or RWBY. Everything belongs to their respected owners.**

"Thanks for helping out with the shopping just now. Although… I guess it really wasn't that good of me to just suddenly ask you on the spot. It's just that I got the text now and that's a lot of stuff just for Ruby and-"

"It's okay." Minato shook his head, helping pass items from a shopping cart onto a conveyer belt. There was almost a rhythm to his movement as he spoke to Yang while she helped him. Ruby meanwhile was staying silent, standing and hanging onto the end of the cart.

The girl was quiet, almost as quiet as Minato. But the difference between them was that he was like that while Ruby's silence was due to her shy personality. He would also catch cautious glances coming from her every once in a while, but then she would always look away whenever he would turn his head in her direction.

As the smaller girl was constantly turning her head back and forth to watch the groceries moving along, the cashier paid none of them any mind as they just kept their eyes on the register and bagging the goods.

Minato meanwhile noticed the swiveling head of Ruby. "Huh?" Yang hummed, looking at Minato. "What are you looking at?" Slowly turning her head, she saw him staring at her little sister. "Something on your mind?"

The blue-haired male either didn't hear or acknowledge Yang's question as he looked back towards the inner-parts of the store. Silently, he walked among the various shelves that contained all sorts of hidden items. He was back within a few seconds though with a box in his hands. Slipping it onto the conveyer belt, he watched it as it was the last bit to go through the scanner.

"That will be 274 Lien." The person at the register stated.

As Yang presented a credit card that belonged to her dad (hopefully it wasn't swiped), Minato grabbed the box while wheeling the cart around and parking it in a designated area. As Ruby hopped off, Minato had the cardboard hover in front of her face. He watched her blink in confusion as she stared at what looked like to be a box of cookies.

Slowly, she looked over to him with surprise. "Is… this for me?" Ruby asked, as if in disbelief. Seeing Minato nod his head, she looked at the box again. Then back to Minato. The process went on all the while Yang was working on the card-reading machine, the blonde both keeping an amused eye on her sister and concentration on the technology. "…Thanks." The red-hooded girl nodded while slightly hiding her face behind the box.

"Aww, look at you, already managing to win Ruby's heart." Yang teased while grabbing a couple of bags by their handles as Minato just stared at her while grabbing another two bags that looked extremely heavy. Ruby meanwhile dropped her cookies into the final bag before carrying it.

Exiting the store, all of them made their way to the sidewalk. Minato was on the direct right of the group and farther from the street. Yang meanwhile was right in the middle. That meant that Ruby was left on the left side. All of them were silent. Minato because he was used to being so. Yang due to wondering on what she should say next. Ruby meanwhile was just stealing glances between Minato and Yang.

They passed many people along the way. From adults to students, none of them really paid any much attention to the next batch of humans or Faunus. Nearing the edge of the buildings towards the forest, since that's where Yang and Ruby lived, all of them passed a couple of students their age.

"Minato?"

Stopping when he heard his name, the blue-haired teen froze at a familiar voice. Turning around, Minato saw him. There was no way he would forget that face. There was no way he would forget those faces. Four teenagers his age with their own separate identities, hair styles, and colors. One had dark-blue hair. The next had light-brown hair. After him was another boy with a shaved head and light-green mohawk. Finally, there was the one with burnt-orange hair.

"Isn't that Minato?" The one with the burnt-orange hair asked with a surprised expression on his face as Minato continued to stare. The sight of the fellow boy made the blue-haired male unsure of how to react.

It began to flood towards Minato again. Most of the ridicule he had to endure back in elementary school. Most of the hatred towards him. All of the taunting and trouble that was brought upon him… because of those four. He thought he would never see them again since they went to a different school. He honestly thought he was over them.

But judging by his reaction, he wasn't.

"Wow. I didn't even notice. Nice catch, Cardin." The one with the mohawk commented.

"What do you take me for, Russel?" Cardin asked, laughing in amusement. "Come on, Dove, Sky, let's say hi." The four of them walked up to the two Signal students and the little sister. Ruby shuffled herself behind Yang while the blonde glared. But they were completely ignored as the guys began to surround Minato. "So, you been good?" Cardin asked.

"Look at you." Dove drawled out, punching Minato's shoulder a couple of time. It looked playful, but then it was meant to hurt a lot. "Your hair is longer. But man, still that usual, dead look in your eyes."

"I thought he would have at least stopped being a freak by now." Sky added with amusement.

"…" Minato only watched the four of them surrounding him. His fist tightened a bit but then he kept it to himself. "Cardin-"

"You know, it makes me want to throw up when I hear you say my name." Cardin mumbled only loud enough for the five of them to hear, completely ignoring the two girls nearby at the moment. "Has being in high school gone to your head? You might want to cool it. Don't want to start another fight and scare everyone again." Minato heard this. He then looked over towards Yang and Ruby. Especially in front of your girlfriend."

Yang managed to hear that last sentence as she frowned while Minato still looked at them all. But then she saw his metal-grey eyes slowly diverting down to avoid eye contact. "You're making two weak girls carry all that as well? You must be even more pathetic than I remember." Cardin continued on.

Minato continued to look down. He just kept on avoiding eye contact. It was just like back in elementary school. Nothing but those four surrounding him whenever they had free time. He couldn't really think of a day when he wouldn't hear a snarky remark about him from them.

"Hey. Are you going to kick their asses yet or do you want me to do it?"

The blonde stepped forward, the sentence from her managing to snap Minato out of his remembrance of the past. Her tone made all of the guys turn towards her as Ruby fidgeted behind. "Hey, you his girlfriend?" Dove asked. "Do you know how he used to be in elementary? He was always so gloomy, and he'd just sit by himself, with this sad look and-."

Moving the bag in her right hand over to her left, she balled up free side into a fist and held it up. "I was asking if I should have to kick your asses or not. So, shut the hell up and let Minato answer."

Her eyes began to turn red and her hair started to catch on fire. Everyone saw this but only Ruby and Minato knew that Yang was getting very mad at this point. Perhaps that was an understatement. With the flaming hair as well, both of them had a feeling that the blonde was maybe pissed off.

But then Cardin just shrugged his shoulders. "Wow, even have to have a girl do your dirty work for you? Come on, I'll even let you have a free hit." He bent forward towards Minato and tapped his cheek, waiting for a fist. But then it didn't come. "Oh wait, that's right. You won't even raise a finger against me since you would always get in trouble and scare everybody. You don't want to frighten those two, do you?

Minato only continued to stare, his grip on the bags being a lot tighter than usual. Slowly looking over towards Yang and Ruby, he physically hesitated.

Yang rolled her eyes. "Oh please, like I'd be scared of him at all." She scoffed, getting a look from all of the guys. She saw the look Minato gave her. "Seriously, dude? I just went through trying to shove some meds down your throat while trying to survive a monster you summoned this morning. Right now, I think you're not scaring me any time soon." The blonde folded her arms soon after. "I'm not going anywhere no matter what."

"Uhh, yeah, what Yang said." Ruby agreed from behind her sister. "You're a nice person despite your looks…"

Minato blinked at their statements, not exactly sure how to react. He then sighed. Maybe he should have seen this coming from Yang. Ruby was a bit of a surprise though. It was unexpected for the younger sister to also stand up for him in her own way.

Cardin meanwhile just stared at them during their little interactions together. His eyebrow twitched as he immediately began poking Minato's head. While he did this though, he didn't notice Minato gently dropping the grocery bags he was carrying before. "Hey, you ignoring-"

Minato cut off the bully by pinching their collar with his left hand. His right hand meanwhile was stuffed into his pocket. Cardin saw this gesture and tried to pull himself away as he had a feeling that he should run. That he had made a bad decision. The feeling came before when he was a kid, but then he easily got away with it before due to adult supervision. But now, as a teenager, no help was coming.

Rearing his head back while lifting his left leg, Minato slammed his forehead right against Cardin's face while stomping to add more momentum to the hit. A large burst of black smoke ignited from the impact as Minato even recoiled back while holding his forehead with his face scrunched up a bit.

Just as Cardin hit the ground, all of the other guys surrounding Minato snapped their heads over towards their friend and ran to his side. "Dude, you okay?!" Russel asked.

"Who the hell do you think you're talking to?!" Cardin snarled at the boy before pointing at Minato. "Just get him already!"

 **(** Play **The King of Fighters XIV – C61 – KOF XIV Ver.- (Ryuji Yamazaki Theme) OST)**

As soon as new noise began to enter the scene, music quickly followed in turn. Hearing such, everyone froze at the sudden change. Turning their heads, including Yang, all of them ended up staring at Ruby who had her scroll out with music blaring out of it.

"…Mmm…" Ruby squeaked out in embarrassment. "I thought it would fit the mood."

Minato soon kept his ear open as the tune began to pick up. It was an interesting sound. There would be music blaring in the orphanage he lived in inside closed rooms. But they never really sounded like something he liked. But this tune… it was slightly catching and relaxing. He even found himself nodding slightly to the beat.

"Look out!" Yang exclaimed.

Feeling a fist land on his jaw, Minato looked over to see that Russel had his fist extended and pretty close to Minato. He only rolled his mouth in response. It was pretty much fight back and get in trouble, or take a beating and have the chance of the others getting into trouble back then. Since he would usually go with the latter as a kid, his body was more than durable in many scenarios.

But that didn't mean he didn't hit hard as well.

Quickly slamming his head towards Russel's, he knocked the boy down as well but then the impact was not as bad as when he hit Cardin. Hearing a battle cry behind him, Minato spun around on his feet and saw Sky charging.

Positioning himself so that his front body face the boy, Minato's began to sag forward with his left side moving to the front where Sky came towards. Just before the boy could get to him though, Minato's left hand snapped forward and punched Sky right on the leg. Watching the leg recoil in pain, Minato looked up and lashed his left hand towards Sky's stomach. But the small combo was finally finished when Minato went for the face.

Being tackled from the side, he looked down to see Dove trying to drag him to the ground. But then he also noticed movement from his other side. Looking in that direction, he raised his left hand to stop Yang from interfering. This was his fight which she encouraged in her own way. That was enough involvement from her. Plus, this was all in self defence in a sense.

Grabbing the top of Dove's head, Minato shoved the boy off of him with the left hand before sending him back with a mustang with the left foot. Cardin managed to catch Minato by a small surprise by grabbing the blue-haired boy's right leg while the other wasn't floored and pulled hard.

Minato fell to the ground and landed on his chin hard. But it wasn't enough to have him be stunned by the pain. Grabbing some pebbles and dirt on the ground with his left hand, he threw them right at Cardin's eyes and blinded the boy.

Pushing himself off the ground while Cardin cried out and began swinging around wildly, Minato looked around and saw Russel coming down from the air right towards him. In response, Minato raised up his left hand and two of the fingers. Watching the boy fall, he caught Russel by the front of the collar. Minato tilted his head, wondering what he should do with the boy who was struggling from the hold he was in. Shrugging his shoulders, Minato flung Russel across the street and watched him slam against a dumpster.

"You son of a bitch! You're dead!" Cardin roared as he managed to blink away the dirt in his eyes.

"Weren't you already saying that about me?" Minato asked, standing while just staring at Cardin with the right hand still stuffed in his pocket.

Hearing an angry cry, Cardin ran towards him in a blind rage. Kicking up dirt, Minato raised his right leg up at the same time. But then Cardin covered his eyes and stopped so the debris would distract him. But then Minato held his right foot in the air until he watched Cardin look up with curiosity and caution. At that moment, Minato axe-kicked the bully down to the ground with his foot on top of the head.

But he didn't stop there. Moving forward, his right foot was still on top of Cardin's head. Lifting his left foot next, Minato began to repeatedly stomp on the rest of the body an amount of times he found appropriate. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten. Eleven. Twelve.

He lifted his foot again, but then he felt a hand slap in on the shoulder. Expecting a punch or a kick, it didn't come. Blinking, he peeked around to see that Yang had placed her hand against him. Her mouth didn't move, but her lilac eyes displayed a clear message. They told him that he probably did enough.

If that wasn't enough, he saw a pair of silver eyes staring at him from behind the blonde. Both colors made him stop… and think. He then looked down and stared at the bully. Sighing, he moved his left foot backwards and stepped on the street. Before he took his right foot off the head though, Yang got his attention again.

This time… the blonde actually had a small grin on her face. "How about one last kick. For me?"

Minato just settled for staring at her right after. That smile on her face was certainly odd for the mood she had just set before that. Looking over to Ruby, the girl shrugged her shoulders. "That guy is a bit of a jerk." The smaller girl pointed out.

That was when Minato stared right at Ruby as well. His gaze bounced between the two girls who were just staring at him, as if what he did was just normal. After a while, he lifted his right foot and kicked Cardin across the street.

He didn't even have to use his right hand the entire fight.

That still didn't stop from feeling some pain after behind hit a couple of times.

"Well, now that that's over, let's get back home!" Yang patted Minato on the shoulder as the boy just bent down to grab the groceries he put on the ground. She then looked at her little sister. "You can also stop the music now, Ruby. The fighting's done."

Ruby blinked before realizing what Yang was talking about. "Oh, right."

Pulling out her scroll, she pressed the pause button.

 **(End Music)**

 **And that was a chapter to show that beneath all of that blandness, Minato can still kick ass. Also, he made a friend in young, shy Ruby. Isn't that sweet?**

 **How Minato fought… as I stated in chapter, his style would be like someone from KOF XIV. Almost every fic where Minato is fighting, he does use a Persona which is a given, but then he is just given a blade as well. While that is his standard weapon, I'm not making it like that. Nope, he's going to use his fists!**

 **With punching and kicking being his go-to, his fighting going to be based off Ryuji Yamazaki's moves from KOF XIV (and maybe a couple of other characters from other games).**

 **Since I'm making Minato like a bit of a brawler, I always imagined that he would be a hard-hitter, but moved at an average speed, and be focused more on defence. A reflection of Yang sort of since she's a hard hitter, moves at an average speed but can use her gauntlets for mobility, and she's focused more on attacking.**

 **As for the future, Minato's weapon is already in mind. A hint though… Yang uses shotgun gauntlets. Think about that.**

 **Completely stupid chapter and reason for Minato to display some moves.**

 **No flames please.**


	5. Chapter 5

**I do not own the Persona series or RWBY. Everything belongs to their respected owners.**

The first thing that Minato saw when he entered Yang and Ruby's house was a furry object barreling towards his face.

The impact wasn't enough to make him reel back, but the face at least made him flinch. Yet such a furry thing did not fall or bounce back. Instead, it stuck onto his face… and there was a vice force biting down to keep itself attached.

Reaching up, he held both grocery bags in his right hand while he raised his left hand and grabbed whatever was attaching to his skull. Giving a small tug, he heard a small growl. His vision was partially blocked by darkness and what he suspected to be saliva. Giving another tug, this time a harder one, but the object still refused to budge.

"Zwei, you can go of him. He's a friend."

Hearing Yang voice, Minato's vision soon came back as he soon was face to face with the face of a dog that Yang was holding on its stomach. "Sorry about that." Yang apologized, grinning at the sight of the slobbered Minato. "After what dad told Zwei, he… acts like that when he smells or recognizes unfamiliar people."

Minato just kept his gaze set on the dog as the blonde passed it over to Ruby, who carried the canine back into the house. "At least your dad is keeping his family in mind." Minato noted, wiping his face with his sleeve. Ridding himself of most of the saliva, he began to walk into the house and had to admire the place. For a two-story log cabin with a sheet metal roof, it was pretty spacious.

The first room he walked into after Yang and Ruby was a living room if he could guess it. The center of the place was dominated by a light green rug, with a dark green couch and matching chair and a wooden coffee table centered on the rug. Between the couch and chair is an end table with a lamp on it, and at the other end of the couch was a dog bed which he suspected to be this Zwei's bed.

At the end of the rug was a wooden TV stand with a holographic projector lying on top of it and a potted plant at one end. On the wall behind the TV stand was a doorway leading to the kitchen, a large portrait depicting a night scene, and a shelving unit containing numerous books.

To the left of the couch was a large brick fireplace with small pictures on the mantle and a large landscape featured above the grate. To the right of the couch was a corner staircase leading to what appeared to be upstairs with the door to a cabinet and a pair of small landscape pictures underneath. A low bookshelf and another green lug lie along the wall at the end of the staircase, topped by another lamp. A trio of landscapes are vertically stack on the wall at the bottom of the stairs.

"Like the place?" Yang asked, walking into another room that was connected to the living room. "Yeah, I would have to agree with you. Dad tells me that he and Uncle Qrow built this place with a few other guys. Give a bit of a warm feeling with the colors and all."

Looking around while standing in place, taking in his surroundings, he then began to notice something. All the pictures in the room. No, there wasn't anything wrong with them really. It was just that they were… lacking something… someone… At least pretty much all the ones with what appeared to be a small Ruby in it, there was an older woman that shared the same looks and faces.

But then it came down to Yang… where was a lady that shared such similar features? The blonde did say that she and Ruby had different mothers.

"Yo, Minato, everything okay? You're not wandering around the house, are you? Sneaking about hoping to find something interesting?"

Minato blinked out of his visual wandering when he heard Yang and her… playful, suggestive tones. Making a look at what Yang was implying while looking at the kitchen entrance, he waited for Ruby and Zwei to run in front of him and move on before going over to where Yang was.

Seeing how Yang had placed her own grocery bags on the table, Minato did the same as well as he then saw Yang walk past him once again. "There's some time left before I should be getting dinner ready. I've been having a bit of trouble with my English work and I was wondering if you could help me out with that."

Just watching her walk back into the living room, Minato just raised an eyebrow at the absolute attitude and pace the blonde was going. But, fortunately, he could match up with her pace as he just turned around and began to walk after her. I'll be down here." He said, grabbing a seat on the couch while placing his bag on the wooden table.

"Cool, just let me run upstairs to grab some stuff." Yang nodded her head as she began to bolt up the stairs. Just when that happened, Ruby was barreling down the flight with Zwei at her side with a rubber chicken in her hands.

"Come on, boy!" Ruby exclaimed dangling the giant toy in front of the dog. "You want the fake chicken? Yes, you do! Yes, you do!" Continuing to tease the canine, she soon saw the blue-haired boy standing in place while watching her. "Minato, do you want to join us play outside?"

Minato shook his head. Watching the girl shrug before running out of the house with the dog, he only had to wait a little bit longer before Yang came back down the stairs with some more pencils. "Despite the rowdiness of Ruby and your dog, it's still a nice change of environment compared to where I live."

"Oh… yeah…" Yang started off a bit cheery but then began to trail off when she remembered the building he lived in. "You're an orphan…"

"I've come to accept it long ago." Minato nodded his head, confirming her statement while making one of his own. Taking out some books and a pencil or two, he began to place everything out while neatly organizing it. He then noticed a lack of actions of Yang's part. "If you have any questions, whether it be about my past or school, go ahead and ask." Opening his book, he looked at a question and began to answer it. "It is my decision to answer or not."

Yang meanwhile gave a bit of a sheepish look, not even bothering to hide that she was caught in the act. Taking out her own stuff, she flipped the pages over to an area of interest. "It's mainly about asking you what is the best way to write a short essay."

"…There is no such way as a best method." Minato answered. "And this is a little bit of trouble?" He asked after, Yang just giving him a smile that clearly was not humorous to him. "Do you at least know the basics?"

"Nope." Yang replied back, puckering her lips and popping the p in the word.

"…Anyways…" Minato rubbed his eyes after a moment of silence while pinching the bridge of his nose. "A short essay is generally structured in three steps; Introduction, main text also known as known as the body, and conclusion." He began to draw and write everything out to maybe make it a bit easier for the blonde to understand. "The introduction should clearly indicate if your standpoint towards the theme is positive or negative. The main text or body should give persuasive reasons to adopt that standpoint. Finally, the conclusion summarizes and wraps it all up."

"…Huh…" Yang said in thought, looking up while doing so. "Never thought about it like that before." She then looked over to Minato. "You know, not to get off topic here but… you're a lot more talkative than before."

Minato looked up from a quick peek of his work as he gave Yang a weird look. "What?" He asked.

"You used to be a one word as well as one sentence guy to answer almost anything when I first met you." Yang pointed out.

He shrugged his shoulders. But he didn't verbally answer, not for a while. Yang thought that Minato wouldn't talk after she pointed out something like that, probably because she pointed that out. Maybe she went a bit too far with her own talking that she may have affected him in a sense. The two of them focused on their homework, almost finally finished thanks to the focus due to the silence.

As Yang packed, up she looked at Minato again. Seeing as how he was still looking over his work, she sighed.

"…Perhaps it's because the company." Hearing him speak, she whipped her head around at the sound of Minato's voice. "Speaking with only one word or sentence may indicate they are perhaps not use to the interactions with another person. But being with you for a while now, these past few weeks have been… enlightening to say the least. So… thank you for what you have done for me."

Yang stared, listening to Minato small speech as he slowly looked at her with his visible silver eye. All she could do was blink with surprise at his words. "I… I'm surprised…" She answered. "Never thought that I was doing much. Just hanging with you and all is all I did."

"Yang… for what you've done for me today… is more than what anyone our age or around has done for me since I came to the orphanage." Minato slowly said. "You just hanging out for me means a lot more than you expect. You are my first friend and I appreciate that."

The tender moment was ruining when Ruby came barging back into the room. "I'm back!" She exclaimed loudly, followed by barking of the same volume. As the door swung wide open, the two of them ran right through before slamming the door shut. After that, the red-hooded girl and the dog ran up the stairs in loud footsteps. "Oh right, dad texted me! He said that if you haven't making dinner you should do it now!"

Listening to the younger girl, Yang brought her attention over to her scroll and her eyes widened. "Oh shoot, she's right!" Shooting up to her feet, she began to walk swiftly to the kitchen. "You okay with helping me out, Minato? You can also stay for dinner if that's the case!"

Minato had nothing better to do. "Sure." He answered, following the girl.

"Oh?" Yang asked as she was putting on an apron while tying her hair up into a ponytail. "A one-word answer? What happened to me being enlightening company?"

"…Are you being serious right now?"

Yang only could laugh as she tossed an apron in Minato direction. "Well, this shouldn't be too hard." She began, grabbing a piece of paper on the counter as Minato began to tie the apron up. "We should just be able to follow the recipe here and-"

"YANG! THE WI-FI'S DOWN!"

Once again, Ruby proved to have a good set of lungs despite her small stature as Minato's body almost visibly react to her voice. His head tilted over away from the hole in the house that separated the kitchen from the living room as he began to cover his violated ear and winced at the same time.

Yang winced as well, gritting her teeth at the sheer volume. Looking down at her scroll, she began to tap a few icons and immediately rolled her eyes. "IT'S YOUR SCROLL! NOT THE WI-FI!" Yang called back, walking out of the kitchen.

"I'M RESTRATING THE WI-FI!"

Minato watched Yang go up the stairs. "DON'T! RESTART! THE WI-FI!"

"HOW DO I DO THIS, YANG?!"

"DON'T TOUCH THE MODEM!"

"I'M UNPLUGING A THING!"

While Yang and Ruby were having a small argument, Minato just stood awkwardly in the middle of the kitchen. Looking over to the paper Yang once held before walking out of the kitchen, he grabbed it while looking over the text.

"…Seems simple enough."

 **Y13**

"Again, sorry for having you prep most of dinner."

Yang had just finished her plate of food as Minato did at the same time. The food was absolutely superb, judging by the speed the dog was consuming it in his bowl as they spoke. Minato at first questioned if it was okay, and the girls responded that it was fine.

"It's not a problem." Minato shook his head. "You and Ruby were in a… small debate."

"Yeah…" Yang trailed off awkwardly. She then began to look around the table to notice that one occupant was missing. "Where did Ruby go?"

"She went into the kitchen." Minato answered, gesturing to the kitchen with his head. "She said that she was going to make dessert."

"…You let her into the kitchen?" Her eyes began to widen. "Oh no… no, no, no…"

"If you're trying to imply she's bad at cooking, practice is what she ne-"

The smoke alarm soon began to sound off as it cut off Minato's sentence. Both the blue-haired boy and the blonde looked out as black smoke, not as thick as such element Minato was able to produce, as a red-hooded girl walked out with a plate. "Check it out guys, I made something!"

Running over, she dropped the plate between them to reveal it was nothing but a black, solid mass.

"…Uh, Ruby…" Yang deadpanned. "…It's burnt." She didn't want to be too harsh, but it was better to rip that band-aid off right now.

Ruby blinked and looked down. "…Oh yeah."

Minato took in a deep breath. He mentally told himself over and over again that practice made perfect. The silver-eyed girl should now have learned from this experience.

 **Y13**

Slamming a bowl down, actual food appeared to be on the plate. "I tried really hard this time!" Ruby exclaimed, cheeks covered in batter with a determined look on her face.

Yang and Minato both looked at what appeared to be a type of pudding. The two teenagers were not dessert experts, but the two of them had a feeling that such food couldn't be hand made in a span of ten minutes. Still… "It doesn't look that bad I gue-"

Yang's sentence was cut off when the contents suddenly burst into flames.

Everyone watched recoiled back a bit in reaction. Slowly inching forward to the flames, Ruby frowned. "Umm… too much salt?" She asked.

"No." Minato shook his head. "Just… no."

Ruby immediately ran back to the stove and counter, furiously mixing up whatever was going on in her head.

"Hmmmm! Nggggghhh! Come on! This couldn't possibly be any worse!"

 **Y13**

The entire table was empty… except for one object.

Slowly, from the length edge of the table, four heads took their time to grow above the table until their eyes were right against the edge. Grey, silver, and lilac eyes all found themselves staring at one common object. Their noses didn't even come up past the table as they continued to act like moths attracted to a flame.

On the middle of the table, as glass of water was on fire.

"…Ruby…" Yang started off. "…How does that even-"

"You know," Ruby said dejectedly. "I don't question it anymore."

"Practice makes perfect." Minato reminded them.

As the three pairs of eyes were staring at the glass of water that had been set ablaze, they all failed to notice a fourth person nearby. As the three children were distracted, the black-haired adult with red eyes was giving them all a weird look.

"Who's the guy? More importantly, did I miss something?"

 **Slow chapter, but I still think it was a good moment between Yang and Minato. A bit forced, yes, but still nice.**

 **No flames please.**


	6. Chapter 6

**I do not own the Persona series or RWBY. Everything belongs to their respected owners.**

"Hmm…"

Minato felt like he was a piece of meat and a man was staring like a predator right towards him. As the adult continuously looked over the blue-haired boy, Minato decided to do the same as well. It was at least something to do while he was being observed himself.

The adult had graying black, spiky hair, red eyes, and slight stubble along his jawline. With a red, tattered cloak, he wore a gray dress shirt with a long tail, black dress pants, and black dress shoes. He also wore a ring on his right index finger, two other tings on his right fourth finger, and a necklace with a crooked cross-shaped pendant. His bangs meanwhile were down, covering most of his forehead.

"…" Minato stayed silent, staring straight at the red-eyes. He had been subjected to the look for a good few minutes now as he was standing. Really, the only time he broke eye contact was just at that moment and that was to just make out the person's attire. Now that he was done with that, he could continue on keeping his gaze fixed.

"…Uncle Qrow, why are you staring at Minato like that?" Ruby asked, sitting on a nearby chair, nibbling on cookies from the box Minato had added to the cart earlier. Reaching into the carboard container, she pulled out another piece before munching on it. "You look like you're about to commit a serious crime."

"Hmm…" The man known as Qrow now hummed again, placing a hand against his chin to stroke his stubble. Reaching forward, Minato slightly leaned back slightly and gave him a weird look. "I'm not going to hurt you, just need to check something." He stated. Only a couple of seconds passed when Minato stood back up straight again.

Raising an eyebrow, Minato turned over to Yang. His looks asked what he was supposed to do. Yang however only grinned at the predicament that her friend was in. "Don't look at me." She reached into the box of cookies to take one for herself. "This is pretty entertaining to watch."

Giving the blonde a flat stare, he turned back to see that Qrow was now right up in his face. If Minato was startled at the sudden reveal of how close their faces were, he didn't show it. Qrow reached over and pushed the bangs out of the way to reveal Minato's right eye. Once more, Qrow hummed. "…No scar under there as well… Nah, it looks better with your hair down." The man stated before letting the blue bangs flop down as he stepped back. "Name's Qrow Branwen. I'm Yang and Ruby's uncle."

"…Hello." Minato answered straightly. The only reason for his pause was due to the fact that there was that odd moment just because the adult wondered if he had a scar and slash or he would look better with one or both eyes revealed.

Qrow continued to look down at the kid. "…Not exactly much of a talker, are you?" He asked.

Minato continued to have his gaze neutral. "It all depends on the situation." He decided to say.

"Are you Yang's boyfriend?"

"Uncle Qrow!" Yang groaned, burying her face into her hands with exasperation. Seriously, she was having to witness this kind of issue again? The blonde at least thought that the adult would have ceased such since she was in high-school. But her uncle kept this kind of attitude up since she was in elementary! "No, he's just a friend! That's it!"

"…" Once again, Minato turned over towards Yang. But this time, he gave her a weird look. Slowly moving his left hand, he pointed right at Qrow. "…He's not joking, is he?" He asked, not exactly believing the scenario he was being put through at the moment.

"Nope. Uncle Qrow and dad have been like this for a long time." Ruby answered for her sister, who was too busy still groaning while keeping her face covered. Digging through the box, she pulled out a cookie and held her hand out. "Cookie?" She asked, waving the treat around in front of Minato.

Shrugging his shoulders, he reached out and took the food. About to put it in his mouth, he heard a bark. Looking down, he saw Zwei sitting down obediently next to his leg while panting. Looking at the gaze, Minato slowly trailed it over towards to food in his hand. Blinking only once, he dropped the cookie and the dog snapped its jaws and consumed the cookie with one bite.

With another bark, Zwei ran towards the table. Hopping up on a chair and then the table, the dog ran up and jumped. Watching the canine coming his way, he shifted his body and caught the dog before it slammed its face against the wall behind him. Holding Zwei in front of him, Minato closed his eyes and wore a mixed expression as the dog gave his face a long lick.

Yang had finished her moment of exasperation and took up another grin when she saw what had happened between Minato and Zwei. As Minato kept his eyes closed while placing the down on the floor, she grabbed him a spare rag. "Cloth?" She laughed, throwing it against Minato's face.

Watching the blue-haired boy dry his features, Ruby dug around the box once more. Blinking, she looked into the container. Squinting, she managed to fish a piece of food out. "Last cookie?" She offered, holding it out towards Minato who just finished wiping the drool off of his face.

Shrugging his shoulders once more, Minato took the cookie and placed the edge of it in his mouth and began to munch on it. Stuffing his hands into his pockets while slowly working on the cookie, he turned back to face Qrow who was almost forgotten through that entire exchange. "…" Minato couldn't speak due to being in the middle of eating.

"Finish that cookie first, then we'll talk." Qrow stated, folding his arms.

Minato kept nibbling.

"…"

He still ate.

"…"

The crunching continued.

"…"

Minato's munching proceeded without disruption.

"You're just screwing with me, aren't you?" Qrow dryly, giving a flat stare towards Minato who continued to munch on his cookie. The blue-haired boy was only halfway through his treat. But out of a random moment, whether it be for better or worse, he began to crack a grin. "I like you." He then nodded.

"…" Minato paused his eating, hearing Qrow's words. Lifting his left hand, he grabbed the remaining cookie and held it next to his face. Turning his head again, he looked at Yang. "Your uncle has a weird sense of liking people."

Yang only shrugged her shoulders. "He's just that kind of guy."

"That doesn't exactly help." Minato replied flatly. Stuffing the rest of cookie into his mouth, he continued to eat.

Qrow however only shook his head in amusement. If his two nieces acted like this around this guy, he was probably a good person in the end. He shouldn't be quick to judge after all. Actually, now that he thought about it… "Aren't you that kid who got suspended today?"

"…Yes." Minato answered carefully.

"And you potentially got Yang hurt."

"She's at an age where she can look after herself responsibly." Minato deadpanned, having a feeling where this was going. "It's nice for relatives to be concerned for her well-being. But if she didn't want to get hurt, she could have easily left me to grab a teacher who was possibly stronger than her. It was her choice to do what she did and it would be much appreciated by her that you at least content with that."

…This kid was telling him off, wasn't he? Oh, Qrow was definitely starting to like Minato. Hiding a chuckle by sighing, he looked over to Yang who stood with her arms folded against the wall. She watched the entire situation play out, her expression hiding what she was thinking. Qrow then faced Minato who continued to stare at him with a straight face, just waiting to answer anything that would be asked.

Looking over at the clock, Qrow looked back at Yang. "You want to walk him back to his home, or should I?" He asked, gesturing to the object that told the time. "It's getting pretty late at the moment." He saw Yang raise an eyebrow at him. "It's your choice if you want to or not." The adult shrugged his shoulders.

"Uhh… Okay…" Yang said awkwardly. Usually, she wasn't allowed out late at night. What time was it right now? Eight-thirty judging by the clock. Well, perhaps it wasn't that late after all. "Come on, Minato. Just let me grab a jacket before we head off."

Minato nodded his head silently. As the blonde walked out of the kitchen, the boy looked over to Ruby and Qrow. "Thanks for letting me stay over." He thanked.

"It's cool." Ruby waved. "Come back soon."

"Meh, no trouble. Especially since I wasn't here most of the time." Qrow commented.

Waving to the younger girl and adult, Minato made his way to the front door. By the time he fitted his shoes on, Yang had put on a brown coat over her casual clothing while she slipped into a pair of boots. "All ready?" She asked. All she needed was to see him nod and she opened the door.

Their time was quiet, footsteps crunching against the autumn leaves. Their bodies felt the chill of a night breeze, one being more affected that the other. But the silence was something Yang couldn't keep at all. Especially since it was awkward for her. "So… what's it like… being an… you know…" She immediately regretted her mouth running on its own.

But Minato was fine with it. "An orphan? Not bad." He answered, blowing through his mouth a bit to make a small cloud that disappeared within a second. "Pretty much all of the kids stay away from me for reasons you already know ever since I arrived."

"…" Yang looked off to the side to see the forest they were trekking through. Despite Minato not being affected when speaking about his past, she still felt a bit bad that she was the one to initiate such an action. But then it hit her and she couldn't hold back once more. "Wait… ever since you arrived?"

Minato nodded his head, but then his face slightly scrunched up into a confused expression. "Correct." He answered. "It's… odd. I remember a home when I was much younger… Perhaps when I was a baby and toddler. But at the age of… four? Maybe five? Either way, I remember just waking up in a bed in the orphanage, being told that I was found outside of their doors. Also, was left a lot of money, supposedly an inheritance."

Yang opened her lips but then didn't say a word, shutting up at the last moment. So, that meant Minato did live with his family before. But then what happened? Did they give up on him? Give him up because of something bad? "What was it like?" She asked, causing Minato to turn his face. "Do you remember what your family looked like? Maybe where you lived?"

Minato hummed, looking down in thought as they began to exit the forest. "I remember… a large table with many chairs. There was a lot of space inside the building. I wasn't really allowed to go outside much however. I also remember… one… two… three? No, four people total. I can't really remember the first three, but the fourth… I'm thinking she's my mother."

Their feet tapped against the concrete as their walking continued. "Your mother?" Yang asked, curiously.

Closing his eyes, he continued to think. "I remember… her hair was white… it reminds me of snow. Her skin was also… pale?" He then shook his head. "Sorry, that's all I remember."

"Oh, you don't have to apologize!" Yang quickly exclaimed, shaking her head as well. "I mean, you didn't really have to tell me this stuff either after all." She then made a thoughtful face. "Why… did you tell me all of this anyways? I mean, I know I am your friend and all but… wouldn't you prefer to keep this a secret?" She knew she would.

Minato shrugged his shoulders. "I trust you. What more of a reason do I need?"

Yang opened her mouth to answer but then couldn't answer. Just like that? Because he trusted her? She shook her head once more but then smiled. He told her about his past because he trusted her so much. But what about her? She didn't tell him anything about her own mother. She did see him looking at all of the photos of her family and it was likely that he noticed the lack of a female that looked like her.

"Ah, we're here."

Snapping out of her thoughts, Yang looked to her side to indeed see the orphanage. Watching him step onto the property of the building, she stepped along with him. "So, see you tomorrow." She stated.

"…I'm on a week of suspension." Minato reminded her.

"Ah… right." Yang awkwardly said. It then hit her. "How about going over to my place again?" She then suggested, making Minato look towards her with an expression asking her to explain herself. "I mean, we're in the same class so I can just tell you the stuff we went over. Maybe even go over it together."

Minato looked up in thought before nodding his head. "Sure." He answered.

"Ooh, suspension huh?"

Looking over, there was teen their age just leaning against the doorway. It was… almost painful how much of a stereotypical delinquent the guy looked that Yang or Minato didn't even want to process what the person was wearing. "Who would have thought some soulless deadbeat had it in him to cause trouble? Oh man, I have got to tell everyone that you actually managed to become a terrible troublemaker."

Yang frowned. This was okay? Minato called this okay? He wasn't even inside the door and there was a jerk trying to pick a fight. What was even worse, Minato never took action or complained about it so he must have been an ideal target.

Before the blue-haired boy could respond, Yang quickly stomped right over towards the guy who made fun of Minato. "Why don't you keep your mouth shut?" She stood right in front of the delinquent and glared. Her sudden burst of anger seemed to startle the guy as he froze in place while Minato raised an eyebrow at Yang's attitude.

The delinquent however whistled. "How could I with you around?" He asked, his eyes already wandering all over Yang.

Yang saw Minato step forward while raising his left hand. Guess he was a bit protective of her. But right now, Yang felt like she needed to step up for Minato again. He did so when it was with her uncle, so she was going to return the favor. "Okay, so I'm going to give you two options." She stated. "Either we fight and the winner makes the loser do whatever they want, or you can apologize to Minato right now because I WILL RIP YOUR SPINE OUT OF YOUR ASS IF YOU PICK OPTION ONE!"

The expressions the opposing guy made easily expressed his thoughts. At first, when he heard the winner could do anything to the loser, his head went to a pretty obvious place. Rearing his fist, he punched Yang right in the face.

The blonde didn't even flinch or blink at the impact of the fist. In fact… she actually smiled pleasantly.

"Thank you for picking option one." Her smile began to turn feral while rearing a fist. "Now prepare to face Xiao Long justice!"

Minato began to drag Yang off of the property, trying to convince her the guy wasn't worth the trouble.

 **Y13**

Knocking on the door, Minato waited for someone to answer it. It was supposed to be around four o'clock right now and Yang texted him that she and her sister should be home before then. Standing, he waited until he could be let in. He didn't want to knock again either.

Seeing the door open, he was surprised when he saw Qrow. But then it was odd seeing the man's hair a bit more messy than when he last saw it. Not only that… the man had his eyes narrowed as if he were glaring at Minato.

"…" Minato stared.

"…" Qrow stared right back at him. Narrowing his eyes even closer, he leaned closer towards Minato. "…Oh, it's you!" He stepped forward and slung his arm around Minato's shoulder while helping the blue-haired boy inside. "Minato, right? How's suspension? Pretty boring, right? It's really weird that you hate school but then end up appreciating it a bit when away. Sorry about looking pretty grumpy right now. Just woke up from the middle of a nap. Hang on, I'll let Yang and Ruby know you're here." He then took in a deep breath. "GIRLS, THE COOL GUY FROM LAST NIGHT IS HERE AGAIN!"

"HI MINATO!" Ruby yelled out from upstairs.

"YO, I'LL BE DOWN IN A SECOND! JUST WAIT!" Yang called out.

Minato's ears were ringing while he felt exhausted all of a sudden.

 **Just a single meeting and Qrow already has taken a liking to Minato. It's so common to see fanfics or writing where the adult male relative hates the boyfriend. So that's why I tried to make a small twist and have the adult immediately take a liking to the person.**

 **Again, seen too many fanfics of where Tai or Qrow are immediately protective of Ruby and Yang when it comes down to guys. While they have good reason, I just thought I'd try something different. So if you don't like it… meh.**

 **Plus, I think it could lead to some even more amusing moments when the uncle or father likes the boyfriend immediately.**

 **No flames please.**


	7. Chapter 7

**I do not own the Persona series or RWBY. Everything belongs to their respected owners.**

"Minato, Yang, I'm ready!"

The two teenage individuals turned to look down at the adorable sight which was Ruby Rose dressed in a little chef's outfit, the apron she wore was a nice red with a small pocket in the middle which was decorated with a big black heart that had black lace around it. On top of her head was a rather over-sized chef's hat matched perfectly to it being also a shade of red with black outlines of hearts at the rim. In her small hands was a cooking set all ready to use at her disposal.

The youngest out of the trio was amazingly excited since it was going to be her first official time learning how to cook.

It was going to be anything fancy at all or anything of the sorts since it was just in the middle of an afternoon, a few weeks after Minato's suspension. Ruby wanted to attempt cookies. It was pancakes at first, but then Yang pointed out that being able to set water on fire could possibly transfer over to setting metal ablaze until her younger sister could obtain a higher skill level. Minato stated that water should not be able to be set on fire, but then was proved wrong a few second later by Ruby's influence (she almost burned Zwei's drinking bowl in the process).

All of this was much to the sister's dismay when she even attempted to use a lighter to prove Yang wrong to only show that her older sister was right all along.

But they were going to learn to bake chocolate-chip cookies and the smaller girl couldn't wit. She never baked fresh cookies before and only ever had them when she was really small. So it was an experience she was extremely looking forward to.

Minato tapped Ruby on the shoulder, snapping the little girl out of her thoughts. Yang meanwhile was looking forward to teaching her younger sister how to cook with Minato. Despite Ruby's open personality with Minato, the girl was shy at school. Her academic life perhaps only had a single friend or even two. Right now, she was determined to be able to have Ruby keep herself open like this and eventually be able to bring that personality to school and wherever she went.

"Right then," Yang grinned, looking at all of them in aprons. "Let's get started now, shall we?"

As the two girls began to grab mixing bowls, Minato grabbed a few ingredients out of the pantry and fridge. Yet, while doing all of this, he had a feeling things were not going to go as smoothly as he would expect.

From all his visits, nothing ever really went smoothly in the Xiao Long slash Rose household.

 **Y13**

"Right, first we add some flour." Minato said, reading off a sheet of paper containing the recipe.

"Got it!" Ruby nodded her heard. Grabbing the bag filled with white power, she turned the entire thing upside down over a large mixing bowl. What followed next was a loud thud followed by something that was possible a smoke cloud but much lighter in color. The young girl, since she was the closest to it, began hacking and coughing the hardest out of them all.

Yang was also affected, waving her hands around to get rid of the flour getting into her face and hair. "Don't dump the whole thing in!" She exclaimed, coughing as well. Her eyes were squinting as she tired to maneuver her way around the kitchen to open a window before finding a broom to sweep everything up.

Minato however was just staring at the amount of flour that Ruby had dumped into the bowl. Looking around, he soon saw the bag that Ruby dropped while she was flailing her arms around. "Should be able to tell us how much she put in." He muttered to himself. It was just a simple means of finding how much was in the bag, then have to scoop the proper amount back into the bag until there was the correct quantity left. Should be easy.

The difficulty increased a bit when Zwei began chewing on the bag.

 **Y13**

"Now for the eggs." Minato said after, sorting the entire flour ordeal out.

Apparently, they were going to make a lot more cookies than they expected.

"Okay." Ruby said quietly. "I can do this." Taking deep breaths in, she ignored the look Minato and Yang were giving her when she was repeating a mantra with an intense look. "…Slowly…" Her hand was all but slow, tapping the egg against the surface. Not even a crack. Over and over, again and again, her efforts were all in vain as she couldn't break it. She soon slammed the egg against the rim of the bowl, covering her entire hand in a stick substance. "Eww." The girl moaned.

"An egg of all things…" Yang stared. "You're really bad at this."

Ruby pouted. "Breaking eggs is hard!" She pouted, glaring at her sister.

"Come on, it's easy." Yang rolled her eyes at her sister's complaining. Taking an egg, she began to hold it close to the bowl. "See, you just-"

Ruby's hand was fast though as she grabbed her sister's wrist and slammed it down onto the table, coating the flesh in the egg whites and yolk. "Ugh, Ruby!" Yang exclaimed, glaring at the girl. Grabbing an egg, she threw it at Ruby who dodged out of the way.

While the girls were busy using up their ammunition, Minato sighed, shaking his head. Taking off his apron, he walked over to the living room. Slipping on his shoes, he walked out of the door to buy more eggs.

Zwei meanwhile was licking up all of the egg puddles that were being left around the kitchen.

 **Y13**

"Oh no! Chocolate chip avalanche!"

"How do we even have this many?!"

Those were the final cries of Ruby and Yang before the sisterly duo were both buried under tons of brown bits. Apparently the two of them were reaching up towards the highest levels of their panty and the bags were lefts open.

As the two girls were laying on the ground, groaning at the small amount of pain of banging their heads against the floor, Minato walked up. Rolling up his sleeves, he stuck his hands into the massive brown pile (of chocolate chips). Rummaging around, his face scrunched up a bit. It soon returned to a neutral look as he pulled the two girls out of the wreckage.

Yang was trying to catch her breath while Ruby was devouring a giant mouthful of chocolate.

 **Y13**

"Okay, with all of that out of the way, we just need the-" Yang was cut off when she heard the sound of something being devoured. With the constant lip smacking, it was certainly hard not to ignore. Looking over, Yang was not surprised. "Ruby, stop eating the butter!"

"…But it's so tasty." Ruby stated, holding a half-eaten stick of butter.

Taking in a deep breath, Minato buried his face into his hands.

 **Y13**

"Now we just wait for it to cook."

Minato sighed with a slight bit of relief as he placed several trays into the oven while adjusting the proper temperature and timer.

After probably three hours, the kitchen had been full of tumbles, crashes, spills, and two frantic voices while one was almost silent for the entire time. At one point there was a definite explosion. While the house had means to resist all sorts of disasters, it was apparently not Ruby-proof.

Looking at the mess of the workplace, the three of them sighed.

"Ruby, you can go and do homework." Yang scratched her head, frowning as there was still a bit of flour in her hair. "Minato and I will clean the mess up." Seeing the younger girl nod her head quickly, Ruby began to run out of the kitchen and into her room. That just left her and Minato alone.

Minato grabbed a few rags while Yang dug around a cabinet to find to cleaning chemicals. Bringing out a couple of bottles, Yang sprayed the cloths before the two of them began to get to work scrubbing the many stains around the kitchen. On the table, along the counter, even the stove needed to be worked on. The was also a target despite Zwei's cleaning methods.

As Yang got onto her knees to work on the floor, she grunted while Minaot just finished the stove and started to scrub the counters. There was no talk between them. For Minato, it was because he was usually quiet. For Yang, she was a bit conflicted over something. When Minato was first suspended, it still ran through her mind of how Minato revealed his past because he trusted her.

With such a topic was on her mind, it made her think. How much did she trust Minato to not tell him about her own past? She trusted him a lot. Yang even thought about talking to him about even what happened when she was a kid and about her mom. But whenever she tried to bring up the subject, it would always die in her throat and she would just switch to another topic.

Thankfully, Minato never noticed such but-

"Yang, care to tell me why you've been acting weird these past few weeks?"

…Minato would have never noticed such? Why did she even think of something like that? Of course he would have noticed something being off with her. Turning around, she winced as she saw him staring right at her.

"Did me telling you what I remember of my family stick with you that much?" He asked as Yang cringed a bit, almost feeling as if she had hurt him. That was not the intention or purpose, but it hit the head right on the nail. "…Sorry."

"Oh, you don't have to apologize!" Yang shook her head while waving her hands. "It's not your fault. Rather…" Taking a deep breath, she smacked herself on the head to mentally prepare herself. Minato just raised an eyebrow at her action though. "I've just been struggling these past few weeks. You said that you trust me enough to tell me what you remember. But me… I trust you and stuff, but…"

"…" Minato immediately understood what the blonde was trying to say. It was certainly a struggle to try and say such words though. So he decided to speak for her. "You don't have to feel pressured to talk about your past since I did." His words caused him to regain eye contact. "I said everything because I was comfortable with it. If you don't want to talk about it, then don't. I'll just wait until you want to." He shrugged soon after. Looking over to the clock, he blinked. "It's six. Want to heat up leftovers and do homework at the same time?"

Yang just nodded dumbly, afraid to speak after Minato's words just in case she would screw up. Silently mimicking his actions a few second or minutes later, the two of them had warm leftovers as they both sat down at the kitchen table to finish the rest of the work assigned to them that was due the next day.

"You asked why my hair color is different from Ruby's when you two first met, remember?" Yang asked, grabbing Minato attention as he craned his eyes away from his homework in favor of looking at the blonde. "I did say different moms… but the reason to why we have different parents is another thing."

Minato continued not to speak. He didn't make a sound. The guy didn't even bother moving his hands or arms to take a bite of his food. The body was as stiff as a statue.

"I'm… should just be straight about it. Ruby's mom died when we were both young. But dad's first wife… my own mom… just left." Yang rubbed her face. "Just after I was born, apparently, she was gone. The number of things I know about her I could probably count with my fingers on one hand alone. Just that she and dad were on the same team as Ruby's mom and Uncle Qrow was one defining fact that always stuck with me." She sighed. "I don't know why she even did so. Dad and Qrow wouldn't say. I at least would like to hear a reason, a statement, even a single word to explain why she did what was done. But nobody ever… tells me anything about her. I'm sure they're just trying not to hurt me since it seems like a touchy subject, but…" A groan of frustration was released. "I just want to know why. But with that, more questions keep on rising, boiling inside me like a pot of hot water. Honestly, I'm not sure if I should stop or not."

As Yang took in a deep breath to let the words sink in, Minato still remained motionless. One seemed to wait for the other to make a sound.

"…" Minato finally released a breath of his own through his nose. "I'm… sorry." He apologized, earning a surprised look from Yang. "How you feel, what you want… You have very right to be like that and every right to ask. I'm not sure to why your father or Mr. Branwen are keeping silent about your mother. But does that mean you are going to stop? No, you should keep on trying to find out what you can about her no matter how small the fact. You still have the possibility to find so much out about your mother, you've got a reason to keep on trying. You have a reason to look forward to your future."

Yang listened to Minato words, almost to every letter. But then that last sentence he spoke… It made her wonder. "And what about you?" She asked, earning a look from Minato. "What reason do you have to look forward to your future?"

"GIRLS, I'M HERE WITH SOME FRESH FOOD FROM NANDOS! Another pair of shoes are here as well… IS MINATO AROUND AS WELL?! HEY, MINATO! HOW ARE YOU DOING?! SUSPENSION IS OVER, RIGHT?! THAT'S AWESOME!"

Before Minato could answer, Qrow's loud voice bounced all over the walls. Taking a deep breath while rubbing his eyes, he let out a sigh. Yang meanwhile had her eyes move over towards the open doorway where she could see Qrow kicking open the front door. "I'll… go get Ruby." Yang said, getting off of her seat and going upstairs.

Qrow passed the blonde while walking into the kitchen. Carrying a few bags, he set them on the table when he saw Minato rubbing his eyes. Blinking, the black-haired man looked over to the flight of stairs he could see through the open way. Soon, the man leaned closer to Minato. "Did I… ruin a moment between you two?"

"…" Minato placed his hands down and gave Qrow a dull look. "A talk of ours was certainly disturbed."

"…Aw, shit." Opening his mouth, Qrow began to lift a fist and bite down on it. A muffled groan of agony was followed. "Sahry hout 'hat." An apology was at least heard… Or at least what sounded like an apology was heard.

 **In celebration of V5 coming out on the RT website to exclusive members, I came out with another chapter. Literally, I started typing this morning when I saw it. So that is most likely the reason why it's not as good as it should be. Plus, just being able to watch RWBY is getting me back into a small bit of spirit.**

 **Plus, that cooking beginning scene... As you can see, I watched a bit of RWBY Chibi before this as well...**

 **Without going into spoilers for the first episode of V5, hopefully… Wow, I did not know people in the world of Remnant could bounce around walls and ceilings like that.**

 **No flames please.**


	8. Chapter 8

**I do not own the Persona series or RWBY. Everything belongs to their respective owners.**

"What color are your eyes?"

"Grey, although people do comment that it's an extremely light shade of blue."

"Any specific shade of grey?"

"…Metal I guess."

"What is your favourite color then? Type of shade as well."

"Velvet blue."

"Hmm… Your hairs longer than the first time we met… Any reason why you're growing it out?"

"Never thought it was necessary to have a haircut."

"Ahh… I should have asked this from the beginning now that I think about it. How's your day been?"

"…" Minato stared at Qrow across the table, the two of them sitting in chairs. "Mr. Branwen, why are you asking me these things after sending Yang and Ruby shopping?"

Indeed, Qrow and Minato were the only ones indie the Xiao Long household. Originally, the two siblings would be around yelling a lot. While Minato did get used to it eventually, that still did not stop possible headaches. The weekend should have been a time that the girls would stay in the house to begin with.

But the two girls were now out just on a spoiled shopping spree due to Qrow giving them some Lien and telling them to treat themselves to anything. The catch? He and Minato would have to discuss some things.

Although this was less of a discussion and more of a… he honestly didn't know how to describe it.

"Oh, you curious?" Qrow asked, keeping his back leaned against the chair he was sitting in. The adult shrugged his shoulders. "Just wanted to know you better. I mean, you're a cool person to hang around, but I don't really know you at all."

"…I think you got something down in the wrong order." Minato stated, raising an eyebrow at the blck-haired male's reasoning. "You're supposed to get to know the person better before concluding if you like them or not."

"Was it like that when you Yang started interacting with you?" Qrow asked, his hand reaching down to his waist. His hand grabbed a… flask as he brought the small metal container up. "You want any? It's Vale whiskey. It's some pretty strong stuff with a nice taste and amazing kick."

Minato gave Qrow a deadpan. "I'm underage." He felt like he had to remind this fact to the adult as Qrow shrugged and took a swing. "Why not just do this with Yang and Ruby around? I'm sure you could do something like this with them nearby."

"Mmm." Qrow hummed, his tone saying why he didn't know. Swallowing what was alcohol, Minato managed to take a whiff of the stuff and pinched his nose. "Well, I just thought that it would be nice for us to talk. I mean, I know that you're an orphan left on a doorstep and stuff but you don't really know much about Raven."

"…How did you-?"

"Yang told me." Qrow stated, giving Minato a look of his own. "Look, I might like you, but I still got to know what you're like. I don't care how many times I have to repeat myself, but it's a fact. She really seemed uncomfortable about telling me thought since it's about you but… I'm sorry." The black-haired male shook his head apologetically. "I'm sorry that you had to go through a whole bunch of stupid crap just because of how you look."

"I'm very fortunate I'm at least not treated a badly as a Faunus." Minato stated.

"With the amount of bullshit you lived with that I've heard from Yang, I think it's similar." The adult narrowed his eyes. "But that also means that you never really had any kinds of friends or parents to look after or hang out with you."

"Yeah." Minato nodded his head.

"…So tell me… what's it like having a friend like Yang then?" Qrow asked, leaning forward. His elbows were propped up against the table as his hands held his chin up. "Your very first friend after all of these years. What's it like to you?"

"…" Minato looked out of the window that was next to the table, thinking about what to say. "It's… something I look forward to. Everyday, for nearly eleven years, I lived through a dull, mundane life with a cycle that never ended. The wheel just kept on turning on its axel, no end to the spinning. The days became a blur, never really paying attention or caring at all. But now… as soon as Yang started speaking to me… that wheel has now been broken. Smashed off of its axel, the wheel still moves. But now, I see so much as it turns. Each day is filled with an feeling I thought I'd never expect. Each day is brightened up by Yang… sometimes a so brightly it makes me blind and wonder why I'm friends with her. It feels like…"

Minato trailed off, almost at a loss of words. Perhaps he actually was. He couldn't think of anything to describe how he felt really. Qrow just kept on watching Minato as the boy made his little speech, his words being true and genuine. Sighing, a smile was on the adult's lips at the same time. "Alright, I get it. You don't have to explain yourself any further."

Minato didn't really know what to say, but he just nodded in response.

"Good to know." Qrow nodded his head. "So when's the wedding?"

Qrow laughed when he saw Minato's look.

 **Y13**

Qrow had left long ago as Minato was just waiting for the two girls to come home as the uncle told him to just wait for them so they could hang out as it was originally planned out.

"YEAH! WOOOOOOOO!

Ruby came bursting through the doors and began just running all around the house with a can in her hands. Minato was in the living room at the time and nearly took the full impact of the sound. He really needed to have a set of earplugs on hand. Turning his head around, he walked over as Yang was carrying a few bags in her hands. "You two bought a lot of stuff." He commented, offering his hands to help Yang out. While she passed a couple of bags over, he looked down to see the brands. "…Clothing and weapon parts?" Yang nodded, and Minato only decided to question something else. "So, what's going on with Ruby?"

Yang sighed, seeming a bit tired. "She drank some soda."

"I DRANK SOME SODA!"

"…" Minato turned his head towards the upstairs where lots of noise was being made. He then simply took the rest of the bags from Yang due to her slightly exhausted look. "She gets this hyper when drinking pop, but not when she eats an entire box of cookies?"

"FREAKING SUGAR HIGH!"

"It's just who she is." Yang groaned, dragging herself over to the couch. "A giant pain though having to watch her this entire time. Just keeping an eye on Ruby like this is exhausting." Dropping right down, Minaot didn't even get another word in as the blonde had fallen asleep.

"AWW, SHOOT, I SPILLED IT!"

Minato was honestly surprised that the noise Ruby was making was not waking Yang up at all. Guess she was a heavy sleeper. Slipping into the kitchen, Minato placed all of the bag onto separate, respective sides. He at least assumed that pretty much all of the weapons parts were for ruby. What would the red-hooded girl want with a whole bunch of this stuff anyways?

Questions for later.

While he was busy sorting everything, Ruby had bolted straight into the kitchen and grabbed a small bucket, filled it with some soap, and ran back upstairs with a rag in her hands. Hearing everything happen behind him, Minato estimated for that entire ordeal take about five seconds when he thought it would have at least been double that time at a normal pace.

…Had he grown used to this loudness? Before it would irk him a bit, but he never really let it bother him after. But now… he didn't mind it at all. Being at the Xiao Long household for the past couple of months… this house was like a second home to him. Minato… what was the word he was looking for… liked it here? No… loved it?

Shaking his head, he decided to go upstairs to at least ask Ruby to quiet down a bit. Mainly due to Yang trying to get a small nap in during the day. Minato didn't blame the blonde. He too would probably lose all of his energy just looking after this sugar-high girl.

Just as soon as he took the first step, he heard clattering and a lot of words he only heard four-year old kids curse with. Looking up, he saw Ruby tumbling down the stairs. Her body bumped on each step as she careened down right to the bottom. As the bounced on the wall, Minato grabbed her by the hood and Ruby immediately was jerked back before she could fall flat on her face against the floor.

"Thanks, Minato!" Ruby exclaimed, snapping her head up and Minato could smell that the girl's soda flavor was blood-orange. "I almost hurt myself there!" Smiling with a goofy look, she looked down to her hands. "…Where did my rag go?" She blinked in confusion, her face darting all over the place as Minato gently dragged the girl back to her feet.

Hearing her gasp, Minato saw where Ruby was staring and looked over to the exact place.

A cloth soaked in light-red liquid had splattered itself all over Yang hair.

"Oh no… No, no…" Ruby muttered to herself, suddenly snapped out of her sugar-rush trance. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no…"

As Minato looked back to Ruby while releasing his grip, he noticed the fear in her silver eyes. "What's wrong with getting her hair dirty? Just apologize and things should be fine."

"No!" Ruby exclaimed, thankful that her sister was still not awake yet. "When it comes down to her hair, she never accepts apologies…" She fearfully paced around the room, nervously snaking over and grabbing the rag throwing it way in the trash to dispose the evidence. "We're going to die, we're going to die…" She stepped around the room before glancing at Minato. "This is all your fault!"

"…Excuse me?" Minato raised an eyebrow.

Hopping up and pinching the top of Minato's ear, she began to drag him over to the sleeping blonde. "Look! Right there! All of that sticky soda is in her hair all because of you! Why couldn't you be more careful?!"

Minato just continued to stare, standing up so that Ruby would lose her grip. "It's not my fault."

"Well who's fault is it then, you blue-haired bum?! The White Fang?! Signal Academy?! That homeless guy that eats out of the McDonald's trashcan?!" Ruby exclaimed, her body almost shaking with a lot of what was suspected to be fear.

"You're the one who had the rag in their possession. Who else would have been able to throw it since it was in you possession the entire time?" Minato simply questioned, not seeing any reason to be afraid. Ruby was most likely making a big deal out of this just because of how Yang probably acted and it scared her…

On second thought, maybe it was bad but it couldn't be so horrible…

Could it?

"…" Ruby grew silent for a second. With a defiant look, she put her hands on her hips and looked up towards his grey eyes. "What did you say?" She asked slowly.

Minato stared right back at her. "You were the one who had the rag in their possession when it happened."

"…Oh, I see it's my fault, is it?" Ruby suddenly began to go on sarcastically. "Oh, of course! First I thought it was your fault for grabbing me… Maybe even Zwei's fault because he's like that, and all the time it was my fault! Oh, it's so obvious now! I've seen the light! Well I must be punished then, shouldn't I?!"

Much to Minato's surprise, Ruby suddenly raised her right hand and began spanking herself while still going on in her sarcastic bout. "You're a naughty girl, Ruby!" She slapped her bottom with almost each word in that sentence before starting to smack her face. "Don't! Do it! Again!" After three slaps, she began to become hysterical. "What are we going to do?! Yang's going to wake up anytime!"

Minato raised his hands to calm the girl. "Now, wait a-"

"Look, I'm a dead girl! Do you realize that?!" Ruby screamed.

"Easy."

"You're dead too! Everyone and everything in this household is dead!" Ruby shook like a leaf in a storm.

"Don't. Panic." Minato tried to calm her down.

"WHAT ELSE IS THERE TO DO?!"

The blue-haired boy flicked Ruby's forehead and it at least leveled the girl's breathing. Although her expression was something that could be fixed. "Look, Ruby, if there is any reason to worry-"

"There is! Yang with her hair ruined by anything gross!" The red-hooded girl hissed while pointing at her sister, who was still surprisingly sleeping through all of this shouting. "She is going to wake up at any moment and we are talking about a girl who can knock out ten guys with one blow of her b-"

"Mmm…" Yang began to stir, her simple moan almost defeating to the situation as Ruby immediately shut up. "Can you guys keep it down?"

"IT WAS MINATO'S FAULT!"

Minato only watched as Ruby raced out of the door while leaving it open. He was about to go after her but then Yang began to stretch her limbs. Minato had to admit that he was curious to what Ruby was extremely scared of.

The blonde slowly began to seat herself up. Yawning, she scratched her head. But as she did, she stopped. Yang slowly began to trail her fingers through her hair. The arm stopped moving when it reached the stickiness that the soda-soaked rag left behind. Her face soon began to sluggishly look at Minato… and her eyes revealed red while looking extremely pissed off.

As her hand snatched his face, Minato began to understand to why Ruby was scared.

He wasn't really scared at all actually… he just understood why.

Being swung around for a single second, he felt a fist embed itself against his face and he was sent flying out of the door and skidded along the dirt. As his body eventually stopped, he only continued to stare up to the sky. "…That actually really hurt." He commented to himself.

As shadow soon loomed over him. His eyes diverted upwards and he saw Ruby. But there was also a second person he did not recognize. In his honest opinion… the adult looked like Yang if she were turned into a guy, had blue eyes, and her hair shrunk down until it was fairly short.

"…Ruby, can you explain why there's a guy lying in front of our house while looking like he was punched by Yang when she's enraged due to her hair getting dirty?"

…That was oddly specific.

 **I don't really have anything to comment about this chapter other than an extremely lame way to introduce Tai at the end and having Minato think about his time with Yang.**

 **No flames please.**


	9. Chapter 9

**I do not own the Persona series or RWBY. Everything belongs their respective owners.**

Minato felt like he was in a very similar situation at the moment.

He was sitting down at the table with Yang and Ruby just watching from the side. In front of him however, was an adult male. Judging by the blonde color of his hair, Minato assumed that he was Yang and Ruby's father.

The man's blonde hair had two small strands sticking out from the top and blue eyes. He had facial hair while consisted of a small patch and a small stubble along his jawline. On his right arm was a tattoo similar to a heart. The adult had brown cargo pants with a dark brown belt, black shoes, and a red bandana on his left arm, and brown leather vest over a tan dress shirt. Oddly, there was a metal spaulter, leather vambrace and a brown fingerless glove all on his right arm.

Yang meanwhile just watched as her dad, Tai, was staring at Minato while the blue-haired male was just staring back equally. But the boy her age was the first to break in a sense as he looked over towards her. "Don't look at me." She commented with a shrug of her shoulders.

Tai hummed, as if trying to remember something. "Wait…" He trailed off, grabbing attention. "Aren't you that kid who got suspended for destroying the nursing room at Signal?"

"…Yes." Minato nodded his head. He decided that it would probably be better to be truthful. Perhaps the worst thing was that the adult would say to stay away from his daughters. A shame that would never be able to happen since Yang would constantly try to find him then.

"Huh…. Neat. So you're that Minato kid" Tai stated, getting a look from Minato. Also from Yang. Apparently neat was not a word they thought, nor they expected. "Yang talked about you. So did Ruby. Qrow as well. But something I've been wondering. Your hair is really long, you know that?"

The blue-haired boy began to have some feeling similarities between Tai and Qrow were going to be revealed soon. While the time would approach, he mentally prepared himself. Already going from one topic to another within an instant was the indication. "I never thought that I needed a haircut."

"Never needed one, huh?" Tai asked, folding his arms. "Though that long hair kind of suits you. Kind of reminds me of myself when I was your age. But then I had folks around constantly forcing me to get haircuts. If it were up to my own decision, I would have my hair almost taking over the upper-half of my face like you're doing."

"…" Minato stayed silent for a bit. "…Okay."

"Dad," Yang started off, interrupting their conversation. Well, she wasn't sure if it would be considered a conversation or not. "Before you ask, he's not my boyfriend. Qrow already asked this and the answer still stands as so."

"Okay then…" Tai slowly said, looking over to Ruby afterwards.

"It's true." The younger sister nodded her head. "Minato's a really cool guy though. Uncle Qrow thinks so too. He's really tough as well. Taking a punch as a small inconvenience from Yang after someone ruins her hair is a feat almost unheard of."

All eyes darted over to Yang who sucked up a sharp intake of air. "Yeah…" She trailed off while looking at Minato who kept his grey-eyes towards her lilac ones. "Sorry about that… I just lose myself when something like that happens."

"Apology accepted." Minato stated, nodding his head. "Although I'm surprised that you haven't done anything to Ruby yet."

"…" Yang's eyes widened a bit as she turned her head over towards the younger sister. Ruby gulped nervously before the blonde looked back at Minato. "Did you… just hold a grudge?" She asked, receiving a shrug from the blue-haired boy. "Although, now that you mention it…"

"I'M SORRY!" Ruby cried out in terror as she bolted out of the kitchen and ran upstairs.

Yang was hot on her trail though, leaving the two males by themselves.

"NOOOO!"

"GET BACK HERE, RUBY! YOU'RE ONLY DELAYING THE INEVITABLE!"

"GAHHH! ALRIGHT, BRING IT ON!"

"AUGH! STOP PUNCHING MY CHEST, RUBY!"

"NEVER!"

Minato looked up at the clock in the kitchen as if he had just not heard a lot of yelling. "Almost dinner time." He said to himself as Tai looked over to where he was looking. "I should be heading off."

"Ah, no need to!" Tai stood up, walked around the table, and patted Minato on the shoulder. "You can stay with us for dinner." Already, the similarities had burst out. But then Tai's face bent forward with a face that looked extremely intimidating. Well, intimidating for most people. It just forced Minato to wear an odd look. "By the way, I won't let you have my daughters." He growled out.

"…What?" Minato's face took on another weird look.

Tai's face was right in front of Minato's. But as seconds passed, Tai snickered. That snicker soon turned into a laugh as his face lightened up a lot. "Oh, you should have seen the look on your face! I've always wanted to try and say that at least once in my life."

Yup, definitely like Qrow. "…" Minato opened his mouth, just trying to find the right words to use. "…I… see…"

"But yeah, you can stay for dinner." Tai waved hand after patting Minato's shoulder in a friendly manner. "Let me just see what's in the fridge. You okay with leftovers?" Without even waiting for Minato to answer, the adult began to rummage through the fridge. "We have… chicken, pork, beef, the remains of human and Faunus boys who previously friends with Yang and Ruby…" Looking over to Minato, Tai began laughing once more at his look.

Minato's face, despite it being straight, was almost twitching with a disarray of emotions. "Did you really have to say that?"

"I'm kidding! There haven't been any males besides me, Qrow, and Zwei for years!"

"…An odd thing to know." Minato stated.

"Yeah…" Tai sighed, closing the fridge door to turn around to Minato. "I heard from Qrow that Yang told you about her mom. While… you can guess what happened to Ruby's with a lack of grown-up females around the house. Although I think you already had a run in with Zwei before and got an idea of how I feel about other guys trying to become friends with my daughters."

Minato nodded his head. He indeed had an immediate idea of what he would be like when Zwei first bit his face and refused to let go. But then a small amount of time passed before he realized something. "You're not exactly acting very… protective with Ruby and Yang when I'm around."

Tai blinked before opening the fridge again before pulling out a few containers and putting them on the counter. "What are you talking about?" He asked curiously, popping a lid off before sniffing the contents of the container.

"From what I've heard, you don't like boys together with your girls." Minato bluntly stated, deciding just to go straight to the point. He was talking to an adult. As immature as Qrow was, the black-haired male at least had a good amount of common sense that was available when the times would arrive. At least assuming that Tai was the same if not at least a bit smarter. "But I've been with your daughter for four months, moving onto five next month. I would have thought you would have been pretty… well, not well-taken with me being with them."

Scrunching his face, the blonde adult only shook his head while putting the lid back on the container and put it in the fridge and did the same for the others soon. Tai then smiled with a friendly face. "What's wrong with the person my daughters have chosen to hang out with? Why would I hate you for that?" Walking towards the table, he took a seat in front of Minato once more. "I remember that you didn't really have friends until Yang started hanging out with you. Getting along with her and Ruby… Isn't that a very splendid thing?"

Minato looked at the fellow male before looking out of the window in thought.

Looking back, he was a person who was pretty much ripped from all that was essential to him without even his knowledge. He lived through a life where he was never accepted, and everyone saw him as a freak. Now that he thought about it, he didn't mind it either. Probably he had grown too used to it. Like the ticking of a clock, time changed but everything still remained the same.

But then… Yang came bumping into his life. Quite literally when they first met. After that, it was odd how she kept on coming towards him. Everyday when he thought it would be the usual silence, the blonde always broke the quiet atmosphere and replaced it with sound. As the days would pass, she would not be scared or intimidated by him. His gaze never fazed her. Not even his Semblance scared her off.

With all the time he was with her, he felt himself grow on the inside. Minato began to feel like…

Letting out a breath, he finally looked back at Tai who kept his gaze back at him. Minato simply nodded his head. "Yes," The blue haired male confirmed. "It is a very splendid thing."

Tai smiled. "See, what did I tell you?" A second of silence passed between them before he stood up once again. "Well, most of the stuff in the fridge has gone bad. So, we're going out to eat. Anything specific?" Before Minato could even speak though, Tai cut him off without knowledge. "Hang on, I'll let Yang and Ruby know." He looked up to the ceiling. "GIRLS! WE'RE GOING OUT OT EAT! MINATO'S PICKING THE PLACE THOUGH!"

Ruby shouted first. "PICK PHO, MINATO!"

"NO WAY, MAN! YOU SHOULD SAY RAMEN!" Yang called after.

"…" Minato raised his hands to massage his forehead. Taking in a deep breath, he thought long and hard about a food place they should eat at. He then remembered something he always wanted to try. Opening his eyes, he looked over to Tai. "Can we try sushi?" He asked.

Tai grinned while nodding. "HE SAID SUSHI!"

"NOOOOOOOOO!"

"HOW COULD YOU BETRAY US LIKE THAT?!"

Minato's sighed while holding a dull look.

 **Y13**

"Ahh… That was still really good."

Yang let out a happy while stretching her arms. Ruby nodded her head in agreement while patting her stomach. "Well, it's good to see that you girls enjoyed yourselves. How about you, Minato?" Tai asked the blue-haired boy who was walking next to them.

"It was… nice." Minato said slowly, unsure of what to say. "…Both the food and company." He added in.

Just as he said those words, everyone stopped and stared at the other male of the group. All of them dawned a look of surprise on their faces. Yang was the first to break out of it, followed by Ruby, and then their father. They all shared the exact same look; a smile. "Yeah, it was really nice." Yang agreed.

Ruby was about to say something but then stopped when she noticed someone. "Oh, look, it's Uncle Qrow! Hi, Qrow!" Ruby made her statement before raising her hands up and waving them at the black-haired male who Minato had spoken to earlier that day.

Now that he thought about it, the conversation he had with Qrow was similar to Tai's.

How odd.

Said male was drinking from his flash when he turned his head and saw the four of them. "Oh, hey." Qrow nodded to them all before noticing that they were in the company of Tai. He then eyed the blue-haired boy as well. "I see you've met Minato."

"Yup, he's a great guy." Tai stated. "But, you've already met him so I think you already know that."

"Obviously." Qrow snorted.

Minato didn't know why, but then he decided to step back when he heard Qrow's tone. Apparently, Yang and Ruby both had the same idea as they too moved in the opposite direction of forward. Tai however stepped closer to Qrow. "What do you mean by that?"

Qrow shrugged. "Oh, you know, because I got to hang out with Minato more. We talked a fair amount so we both are pretty close."

Now it was Tai turn to snort. "You two close? If Minato were to be close between the two of us, it'd be me. After talking to him, I made it perfectly clear that he's welcome to my house anytime he wants. Not only that, we just came back from eating sushi."

"Yeah?" The black-haired male asked defiantly. "Well I was the first one to bring him fresh take-out."

"Take-out and dining in are two completely different things." Tai stated back. "The former being boring while the latter is at least nice with friends."

"His hair color is closer to mine."

"That's not even a reason for him to like you better!"

"Yes, it is!"

"Fine!" Tai threw his hands up. "Then let's ask Minato who he thinks is the better adult!"

"You both are morons." Minato said with a flat look.

"I have to agree with him at the moment." Yang nodded.

"Ditto." Ruby threw her own thoughts in.

"I met him first!" Qrow argued.

"Quality time over quantity!" Tai countered back.

Qrow immediately grabbed the blonde-adult by the collar of his shirt. "You want to go, Tai?!"

Tai grabbed the black-haired male on the same place he was being grabbed. "Bring it on, Qrow!"

The two adults soon began to break out into a fight in the middle of the street. While their roughhousing occurred, three spectators continued to witness the street brawl without even interfering. While Ruby was unsure of what to say next, Yang looked over to Minato. "You know that this is technically your fault, right?" She asked. "All because of there finally being a guy they can hang out with."

"Don't remind me." Minato groaned into his hands.

 **Well, Tai likes Minato as much as Qrow does. But Tai is a bit more reasonable with his liking. And of course, it led to an argument of who Minato likes more. Forced, but I felt like I needed to put it in.**

 **Fun fact: This chapter was supposed be ending with Tai, Yang, Ruby, and Minato inside of a shopping mall. Not only that, but it was also supposed to introduce the beginning of Lovely Times (Persona/RWBY fanfic). But then I decided against it. Mainly because I refuse to use OCs and I don't want 5-person teams in this fic.**

 **The next chapter… well…**

 **No flames please.**


	10. Chapter 10

**I do not own the Persona series or RWBY. Everything belongs to their respective owners.**

It was closing in to be the seventh month Minato had met Yang and as Yang watched Minato fiddle around with his locker a thought suddenly occurred to her. After all of this time, she never really had an idea since it never peaked her interest before. "Yo, Minato." The blue-haired male shut his locket after grabbing his bad and faced the blonde. "When's your birthday?" She asked when his attention was on her.

Minato blinked before tilting his head slightly to the side. Yang swore that was something Ruby did to persuade them to buy her something and she taught him that exact thing. But for Minato, it was because of him thinking or being a bit curious. "Birthday? What's that?"

Yang brushed her blonde hair back. "You know the day you were born? When you first came into this world?" She was honestly surprised that Minato did not know his birthday but then it occurred to her. Maybe the orphanage didn't have birthday parties for their children, so Minato was unable to experience something like that. She almost forgot about her friend's living conditions since he acted so maturely about it. Sadly, that left her to do the explaining and she just didn't know how to describe it. "Crud. Okay, so-"Suddenly in the corner of her eyes she caught the sight of a familiar figure passing the halls. "YO, DAD! OVER HERE! WE NEED YOUR HELP WITH SOMETHING!"

Minato winced at the sheer volume of his friend's voice. She was easily the loudest person he knew so far and someone beating her at that would be amazing. Maybe it was a contest between her and Ruby.

Tai easily heard this and turned his head. His stride was fast, especially since his favourite blonde and favourite guy were both standing together. "Hey, Yang. Hey, Minato. So, what can I help you both with?" He asked, clapping his hands together while rubbing them eagerly.

"Minato here doesn't know what a birthday is." Yang stated.

Tai raised an eyebrow while turning his attention towards the boy. "Is that true, Minato?"

The boy nodded his head without hesitation. Apparently, this was a well-known concept and he never really encountered the idea before. Well, he supposed there were passing words in books but that was beside the point.

"Well…" Tai trailed off, scratching his head. He had to think about what to say. "A birthday is when you're born. Because of that, usually there is a celebration, gifts and a cake with candles that add up to the same number as whatever age you are."

"…Interesting…" Minato trailed off. "Well, I'm going to go study in the library for the next couple of weeks, so I won't be able to come to your house during those days."

Before Tai could even say anything, he looked like he was about to burst out in horror, Yang elbowed the man. As Minato began to walk away, Tai caught his breath and looked over to his daughter. "What brings this topic up anyways, Yang?" He asked.

"I don't know." Yang shrugged her shoulders. "It just kind of occurred to me that we should celebrate his birthday so I asked when it was."

"Hmm…" Tai hummed while putting a hand to his chin. "I think I know a place we can find out about this."

Gesturing Yang to follow him, the two of them started to walk. After their little trip, they soon found themselves in front of the principle's office. Knocking politely, they entered once given the soft grunt of approval. In the middle of the room was the man they were looking for sitting at a desk while writing things down on paper. The principle then peeked upwards befre looking back down. "Tai, Miss Xiao Long, what brings you two to my humble abode?" He greeted without looking up soon after.

Clearing his throat, Tai was the first to speak. "Yes, well, we're here on an urgent matter concerning Minato."

That got the principle's attention. "Minato Arisato?"

"Yeah," Yang drawled out. "We want to know his birthday."

The principle frowned but pushed off the floor on his rolling chair to pull open a filing cabinet, muttering things about using the word urgent in improper context. After a few more minutes of document hunting the man finally pulled out a plain white bundle of paper. "Minato Arisato. Male. Birthday: April 13. At least, that's the date put down. His guardians don't know his actual birthday so… Are you two even listening?"

The blonde duo were not listening at all. It took less than two seconds to calculate how many days that was, then it took a good minute and a half for the blonde duo to process how close it was approaching. "Dad." The blonde-adult looked towards his daughter, both seeming to hold the same thought. "Gather Ruby and Uncle Qrow. We have work to do."

Running out of the office, the two of them left the principle sitting all alone.

 **Y13**

Minato had left the duo, he couldn't help but think about the question Yang had asked him. But that was soon pushed back when he first met her. He didn't know why, but then she would always be the one to initiate something. The blonde pretty much knew him like nobody else and… he found himself being pleased with that.

Since living at the orphanage, he thought that being alone was not so bad. It was nice, his surroundings being quiet with the scheduled nuisance coming his way. But now… he almost found a perfect balance between his quiet life and one with Yang and her family. If it was too quiet, he would miss the noise. If it was too noisy, he would long for the quiet. He needed that perfect balance now, as if he needed it to survive.

Tapping his head with his pencil, he pushed the thoughts away to focus on studying.

Still, he wondered what Yang asked that question for anyways.

 **Y13**

"Alright guys, I have gathered you all for an important meeting."

Qrow and Ruby grumbled, mainly because they both had plans that they really wanted to go through but couldn't because of this sudden family meeting. Whenever something like this happened, it was not good. "It concerns one Minato Arisato."

All noise ceased and was replaced by the silence of ever family member at attention. Yang couldn't help but smirk at how everyone would act when her friend was concerned. "In two weeks…" Both black-haired family members held their breath. "Will be Minato's 14th birthday, April 13th, and he's never had a birthday party before."

A pregnant pause settled in the air as the implications of the statement settled in. Minato's birthday was coming up. His first birthday party with them, His first birthday party ever. All of them immediately expressed their growing excitement, murmurs breaking out in anticipation. They were already just imagining Minato's reaction at the sight of what they could do.

"WE WILL SHOW MINATO A GREAT BIRTHDAY PARTY THROWN IN TRUE BRANWEN! ROSE! AND XIAO LONG STYLE! WHO'S WITH ME?!"

A roar of defining cheers could be heard so loud it forced many birds around the forest they lived in to scatter. This family was filled with people who once got their spirits up, there was no stopping them.

They were going to make this the greatest party for Minato. Ever.

 **Y13**

In the middle of his work, Minato looked up and began to look around. Seeing nothing, he shrugged his shoulders before beginning to read again.

He didn't know why, but he had a feeling that he was going to be involved in something eventually.

 **Y13**

Yang's family had experienced many things. Living through a life where they lost loved ones. Check. Growing up without a mother. Check. Loving one another. Double check.

However, there was one grand problem that would take all of their effort to pull off. Trying to find good presents for Minato's birthday.

All of them have experienced gift-giving over the years. They celebrated may occasions and with such came the presents. However, Minato was a hard person to give a present to. Unlike many people, Minato was uninterested in many things, unselfish, and easily self satisfied. Yes, Minato was going to be a challenge they all eagerly faced.

Ruby squealed, just thinking about possible gift ideas. Yang and her sister discussed the many things that Minato could possibly like as they definitely wanted a visible reaction since the boy was blank-faced most of the time. Apparently Qrow already had something in mind as he headed straight out of the house while giving Tai a small smirk before slamming the door in his face, much to the adult blonde's annoyance.

Opening the door, Tai glared at Qrow before slamming it behind the black-haired male.

The competitive rivalry was infectious and soon all of them were determined to gift their favourite person the best birthday present ever.

 **Y13**

As Minato walked down the streets after about a couple of days, he adjusted the strap on his bag to make it rest much more comfortably on his shoulders. While continuing his journey, he noticed a woman's good mood as she whistled a merry tune as she continued with hands behind her back towards a child.

"Mama! Why are you so happy?" The kid asked while bouncing up and down.

"Hm? Didn't you know, honey?"

"Nope, mama!"

"Well, it's your birthday today! I've got you a nice gift and all of your friends are coming over later to play!"

Minato watched as the child hugged his mother, happy squeals and laughter filling the air. Finding himself starting, he turned around and began to walk again. It… was odd to watch. So, birthdays were supposed to be a moment of happiness. Interesting. Was that why Yang asked about his birthday? Shame though, he didn't know his own birthday since he had been left at the orphanage at a young age.

…Speaking of young age, what was Ruby doing in town at the moment? Looking over, he saw the young girl walk into a weapons shop. Oh well, that probably meant Yang, Qrow, or Tai was around. He was attempting to study so he should probably avoid that 66% chance of running into one of the adults.

 **Y13**

Ruby had what she thought was going to be an extremely good idea as a present. She might have been the smartest person, she could proudly boast she was definitely one of the closest to Minato an was confident in her gift idea. She just needed the skills of a certain weapon-smith that sometimes went too far with his creations.

"Hey, Hagane."

The man sitting behind the counter who had his legs propped up looked up from the magazine he was reading when Ruby entered the store. He recognized the girl immediately fondly as she was a frequent customer, even if it was just window shopping. "Oh, Ruby, how are you going? Didn't expect you to come in so soon."

"Yeah, I'm just thinking about having a weapon made for a friend of mine."

Hagane blinked. From what the girl had said before, she didn't have any friends that were interested in weapons. So, she didn't bother showing anyone this place. But now there was the words weapon and friend in the same sentence with a positive meaning. This meant what she had in mind was meant to be special. "Sure thing." He smiled. "So, what do you have in mind?"

Ruby had a fiery grin on her face.

 **Y13**

"And what's in it for me?" Qrow demanded, folding his arms while narrowing his eyes towards Tai who had stopped the black-male from running away in spite.

Tai sighed. "Look, we both really like Minato. So, instead of fighting, I thought we should work together for our gifts." He explained. "I… just really need your help."

Unfazed, Qrow continued to stare. "Help?" He watched as Tai leaned in towards his ear and began to whisper. Qrow's expression was unimpressed at first. Soon, it became one of interest and curiosity. Finally, it was surprise. Turning his face, he stared at Tai. "You're kidding." He stated, earning a shake of the head. "Because…"

Tai watched as Qrow began to lean over and whisper into his ear. After hushed words, the two of them stared at each other. A rustling was heard as Tai pulled out a notepad from his pants. As the two of them looked over the etchings scrawled in the paper, each of them looked at each other once more.

"You got yourself a deal, Tai!" Qrow exclaimed, raising his hand up for a shake. "I was actually going to ask the same thing! What a coincidence!"

"Seriously?!" Tai laughed, slapping his hand against Qrow's before the two of them shook with great energy and enthusiasm. "That's awesome! Now, come on, we got a present to get ready!"

 **Y13**

Minato sighed to himself, closing the book he had just finished reading as the school bell rang. Finally, he had finished studying up on what he needed after the past couple of weeks. He would admit, he started to feel uncomfortable with how much quiet time he had. It felt… unnatural. It was… something he didn't want and didn't like.

"Yo, Minato, you finally done with what you want?"

Minato blinked when a pair of hands playfully slammed themselves down onto his desk. Looking up, he saw Yang wearing a huge grin on her face. What was going on in that mind of hers? But to answer her question, he nodded his head.

"Sweet!" Yang pumped her fist while Minato began to gather his things. "Dad and Uncle Qrow were getting restless without you around the house! Plus… it was kind of boring as well." That last sentence was full of lies but then he didn't need to know that. "Come on, let's get going to my place."

Their journey was pretty short. He watched the greenery of the grass and trees due to spring having already begun. Such a sight of nature was emphasized even more when they walked out of the town and traveled through the forest. Looking to his side, he saw Yang staring at him with a grin on her face. "What is it?" He asked.

"Nothing." She sang out, continuing to have her lips turned upwards.

Raising an eyebrow, Minato stepped up onto the porch as they had arrived faster than he had remembered. Keeping an eye on Yang, he grabbed the knob of the door before opening it and facing the interior of the hou-

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MINATO!"

For perhaps the only time in his life, Minato's eyebrows shot off his face. In the moment of shocking surprise, he saw a gigantic banner hanging from the ceiling that had the words _congratulations_ written on. Qrow, Ruby, and Tai were each wearing shiny pointed hats. The living room was filled with balloons and streamers of various colors decorating the usual, homey look that was the signature of the house. In the middle of the room was a large table, which he assumed was from the kitchen, filled to the edge with beautifully assorted food and various desserts that he thought came out of a fantasy.

Minato had to blink a few times to make sure he wasn't dreaming.

When he made sure that he was awake, Minato clinked for a final time before a familiar blonde was seen in the corner of his eye. "Hey, dude…" Yang trailed off, slightly looking worried. "You okay?"

Minato tilted his head, confused at what she meant. But then he soon felt something running down his cheek. Slowly lifting his hand, he tapped his finger against his face. It felt… wet… That was odd. He was pretty sure no water had been splashed against him.

Slowly bringing his hand back, he stared at his finger. He then began to marvel in fascination.

A tear.

A single tear.

His mouth slightly dropped open at the sight of the single bit of liquid. He couldn't help it. He stared at the drop, mesmerized at the transparent liquid. Rubbing his finger together, he let the emotion he was feeling sink in. What was it though? What was he feeling?

…Happiness? Was that it?

Looking up from his fingers, he saw that everyone was staring at him with worried expressions of their own. But then he felt his lips twitch. Slowly, it felt like an eternity. But then it was an eternity he wanted to live through again and again. He wished he could see his own reflection, but the feeling was more than satisfying… it was… amazing.

He felt himself smile. Even with his jaw still open, he found himself speechless at his emotions.

Everyone in the room felt a huge sense of accomplishment at the image. Just the sight of them and the set-up for this party was enough to make Minato happy. They knew that their hard work paid off more than they had anticipated. However, it was only going to get better. Slowly looking over to his side, he stared at the blonde in fascination.

"Well, what are you waiting form Minato?" Yang grinned lopsidedly, her brightness being the perfect balance against the darkness the boy once experienced. "Let's get this party started!"

 **Yes, this was fast. But I've been taking it slow for about 10 chapters so I think I deserve to be a bit selfish right now.**

 **And like that, we have something going on! Technically, this is a Part 1 out of 2. The next chapter will have them actually celebrating this party. And you know guys… Social Links take 10 Ranks before fully developing… I've already given too much away.**

 **No flames please.**


	11. Chapter 11

**I do not own the Persona series or RWBY. Everything belongs to their respective owners.**

It was certainly festive and very loud as the birthday the male teenager was surrounded by people who liked him to an extreme. Minato didn't mind commenting how… amazed he felt much to Qrow's, Ruby's Tai's, and Yang's delight, pride and relief. It was certainly suspenseful just wondering whether or not the blue-haired boy would enjoy their work, but he certainly did.

They couldn't decide on what type of birthday cake they wanted to give for Minato. Ruby suggested blueberry because of his hair color, but then everyone else shot it down. Some could be said about other suggestions. There was a huge war between chocolate and vanilla and fights that may or may not have resulted in physical damage to Tai and Qrow. Eventually, the two of them settled for a compromise when Yang managed to put a stop of the situation.

Minato's eyes blinked and stared as he saw a large decorated cake with one side with white frosting while the other had brown. Yang was more than happy to have Minato sample both flavors. Minato made sure to savor the first bite of the two slices before becoming nearly speechless once again. Everyone just smiled at the sight of the boy's reactions.

Ruby however wanted to try some of the cake immediately as well. She had been waiting for two weeks to try it. Rushing forward to try and grab one of the plates in Minato's hands, the blue-haired boy moved the piece holding the food upwards. The result was indeed keeping it away from the younger sister… Only for the cake and frosting to be shoved and half-smeared onto Tai's face due to his positioning right behind the boy.

There was a silence.

Then a loud laughter was heard and everyone turned their attention to the individual who was holding his stomach. "HAHAHA, oh, shoot! You should have seen the look on your freaking face when you-!" Qrow didn't even get to completely finish as a piece of cake hit him square in the eyes.

Wiping the brown frosting off of his face, he glared at the slightly smirking Tai. With a mischievous glint in his red eyes, the black-haired male scooped up the closest piece of food he could find. Ruby, being the most childish of them all, couldn't resist the chance to rile things up, quickly threw herself into the fray and it only began to devolve from there.

It only took a few minutes Yang to take part in the food fight. Even Minato joined in at some point. The boy found himself throwing small pies and other desserts while listening to everyone shout out warnings to one another. All of them were having the times of their lives as Minato couldn't stop smiling at everyone's laughter.

Soon, the battle settled down. Mainly because there had been no more food left to be thrown, which Minato didn't mind, and they told the blue-haired male that it was time to open presents. It took nearly an hour to clean up, but then it was more than satisfying as they all began to sit around the table.

Ruby held out a very badly wrapped red parcel proudly in which Minato accepted it in his usual emotion, but with slightly equal fervour seen in his actions. Sticking one finger under part of the wrapping that had not been taped down, he trailed his finger along it and cleanly opened the packaging. Inside the parcel was a grey-pistol of sorts, engraved with the initials S.E.E.S on the side of the barrel. Beneath it were several magazines and shotgun shell casings.

"Behold, the Specialized Emergency Execution Sidearm; S.E.E.S for short! It's a Mark XIX Desert Eagle .50 action express, one of the most powerful semi-automatic handguns with a weight of 4.4 lb, gas-operated, muzzle velocity 470 m/s, firing range of 200 m, magazine capacity of 9 rounds, and many parts customized by yours truly!" Ruby stated, gesturing to herself while rocking back and forth on her feet before beginning to point into the box. "Also has been modified to fire shotgun cartridges for messy, close range situations. It's your choice to use it, but then it also has an accessory purpose. Just remember to keep it empty if you prefer the second option so you don't shoot yourself in the foot by accident."

Minato kept his gaze fixed on the gun, looking over its entire body. He then looked over towards Ruby. "Thank you. This is an… amazing gift." He trailed off, having a feeling of how much effort was put into it. Eyeing the inside of the box, there was still more inside. Reaching in, he then pulled out a thigh-holster followed by a book named How to Love Your Gun.

Ruby knew it was another person's turn, so she stepped back as Tai was next and handed Minato a small bag that fit right into his hand. Opening what he had, the blue-haired fished out a key and only looked up to Tai. The adult only chuckled while gesturing with his head. "Come on," He stated while stepping up the stairs. "I want to show you something."

All of the kids looked at each other. Not seeing Qrow grinning, all of them began to climb up after Tai as they ended up on the second floor. Ruby and Yang both frowned when they saw their dad standing in front of a door. "I don't remember a room being there." Ruby commented, scrunching her face up in thought.

"That's because there wasn't one before." Tai stated while folding his arms with a smile. "Qrow and I, along with a few other guys while you all were at school, built this room in secret."

"…How did we not notice this for the past two weeks?" Yang questioned her own father. But then it hit her. "Wait…" She trailed off. "Does that mean…"

Tai simply grabbed the knob and pushed the door open. "Want to check out your room, Minato?" He asked as he gestured the boy to walk in.

Minato froze slightly, once more being filled with surprise. His room? His own room? Inside of this household? Stepping forward, he entered the room and was amazed. Not at the moderate size of the room. Not at how it looked, although it looked really nice. It was that it was supposed to be for him. All of that effort put in to make this one space… just for him…

"Do you like it?" Tai asked as both Yang and Ruby stepped in as well to admire their surroundings while Qrow continued to have a knowing grin on his face. "That's not it though. You're probably still wondering about the key." Minaot nodded. "Well, it's a key to the house."

"…" Minato showed his surprise once again. "A key…" He slowly asked, getting a nod from Tai. "…To the house?" The blonde adult confirmed his question with another nod. "…But… how? I'm-"

"Not allowed to stay in another household if they are not under the supervision of your legal guardian." Qrow finished for Minato, immediately earning the blue-haired boy's look. "Well, that's what this is for." The man with a name similar to a bird reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper.

Just one look at it and Minato gulped for the first time in his life. "…Is… that…"

"The papers that are needed to be filled out for adoption." Qrow finished for the boy once again. "Yup, you got that right. You're still Minato Arisato, but I'm your legal guardian. However…" He slowly trailed off, looking over to Tai. "I'm away for a really long time a lot. So, you'll pretty much end up spending most of your time here with Tai and the girls."

It took Minato a few seconds to comprehend what had happened. Even after making sense of it, it still took him a bit of time to react. Blinking, his face began to feel a bit wet again. Once again, he began to cry. Holding his hand up, he looked back down to the key that was still in his hands. He let out a shaky breath, but it also sounded like a small laugh at the same time.

Yang also laughed loudly as she hugged the blue-haired boy tightly with a cheer while Tai began ruffling Minato's hair. Ruby walked up closely to the three of them, but was still had her face scrunched up in thought. "I'm confused." Ruby stated.

"In other words," Qrow stepped up and ripped Minato out of Tai's grasp while grinding his finger against the boy's scalp repeatedly. "Welcome to the family, kid."

 **Y13**

The party had lasted all afternoon.

Pretty much everyone but Minato and Yang had fallen asleep, mainly to nap due to all of the energy they had spent. Amazingly, the teenage duo had stayed awake. As the two of them sat on the couch, Minato was sipping from a cup of soda when Yang remembered something.

"Oh right, I still have to give you your present." The blonde suddenly stated, slapping a fist into her palm. She looked over to see Minato turn his head to look at her. "Come on, let's go into town. We can grab some food of your choice while I give it to you. My treat."

Minato shrugged his shoulders but then began to follow the blonde outside. Making their way out of the forest to a place much more populated with civilization, they eventually made their way to a small café and the two of them sat down. A waiter soon arrived and the two teens ordered what they wanted. With a quick bow from the one who took their order, the duo were left along together.

Yang pulled on the collar of her shirt and reached down. As her arm began rummaging around the area inside of her clothing, she grinned at how Minato had began just giving her a flat stare at what she was doing.

"You are so lucky that no one else is around to see this." He stated, making her only laugh in response.

"I wouldn't be doing this in front of you if that weren't the case." Yang soon fished out a small packaging of her own, a small parcel wrapped up in black and yellow paper.

Taking the present and opening it, he saw that inside was a pair of clip-on earphones. Connected to those accessories was a neck strap and a mp3 player. Right next to the electronic was a charger as well. "Well, I still remember how you seemed to like the music Ruby played a few months ago. So I thought that you could get a few of your own songs to listen to personally." Yang explained. "Supposedly, the battery life is supposed to last pretty long on that thing. About 40 hours if I remember."

"…" Minato, once again, found himself speechless for who knows how many times that day within the span of 6 hours. "Th-thank you." The voice and look that came from Minato was so soft and warm that Yang took a second to recognize the voice belonged to the blue-haired boy. Without his neutral tone, it was so different.

"Ah, you don't have to be like that." Yang waved her hand, using the other hand to scratch the back of her head. The two didn't notice the waiter even bring their food as they started to dig in without realizing it.

"But I will." Minato stated, blowing on his meal before taking in the food and swallowing. "Ever since I met you, you just always manage a way to make me thankful of meeting you. From our time outside of classes, to introducing me to your family. Even today, you gave me just what could possibly be one of – if not the – best day of my life."

"Come on." Yang folded her arms in amusement, continuing to grin. "I'm just doing what any friend would do."

"And I admire your personality." Minato stated back. "If I had to say, it's one of the things I really like about you."

That last sentence made Yang shut her mouth. She blinked and just stared at Minato as he stared back at her neutrally. She then chuckled. Albeit, it was a bit nervously. "Haha… thanks, Minato." Yang said in a tone unsure of how she should act at the moment. "You got me there." She continued on. "For a second I thought that was a confession of som-"

"I like you. Please go out with me."

Yang's expression matched Minato's when he first saw the surprise party they had thrown. Her eyebrows were shooting off of her face but her jaw was dropping hard onto the floor. Moving her mouth up and down, a strangled sound which was supposed to be her voice choked out. She was… speechless. Slowly tilting her head down, she made sure to keep her eyes glued to her own food to hide a small blush beginning to develop. Focusing on eating, she began to be a bit timid in her body language.

It was… surprising… shocking to be more specific! That kind of confession… just out of nowhere! Peeking upwards, she saw that Minato had already finished and was still staring at her. "What's with your reaction?" He asked her.

"W-well, how else am I supposed to react?!" Yang exclaimed, throwing her hands up into the air. "Here we are, just celebrating your birthday and then you just say that you like me out of the blue! Just… confessing is not a simple task! I mean, have you seen movies and TV shows?! Yet you just said that you want to go out with me like it's noth-!" She cut herself off mid-rant as she finally began to get a better look at Minato. "…Oh my god, you're blushing."

She was right. Minato still had his straight look. But what decorated his face were cheeks tinted a light pink as his head was turned away slightly. But Yang knew him for so long that this was his way so he was probably timid at the moment. "I will admit, I did say it like it was nothing." Minato confessed. "But the after affect were something I did not expect. Was there supposed to be a proper way?"

Yang sighed, groaning at the same time. She rubbed her face while not bothering to hide her blush anymore. "No, there isn't any really proper way. It's just… whatever." She sighed, looking down at her almost empty plate. She then looked back up a short bit after. "So…" She trailed off. "You really like me, huh?"

"Yes." He stated bluntly.

Yang took in a deep breath. "I mean… I do like you back. But… actually us dating? I never thought about it. Then again, I don't think I would have thought about it in the first place. But now…"

Minato continued to stare as the waiter placed the check between them. "So, will you go out with me?"

"Hey! Don't rush a girl when it comes down to a situation like this!" Yang pointed. She then began to reach into her pocket and pull out some Lien before dropping it and standing up. "This is a very important, delicate procedure that must be advanced with caution!"

"Caution is always the last thing on your mind." Minato stood up as well while the two of them began to walk out of the café.

…She really couldn't argue with that.

About a couple minutes of silence passed between the two of them. Stopping at a red light, they waited for the walk signal. Looking down, Yang saw their hands just dangling at their sides. Taking in a deep breath, she looked back straight forward again.

While they passed the street, she linked her hand with his.

Minato's head looked over towards the contact that they had before looking at the blonde who was smiling at him. The corners of Minato's mouth twitched in response as the two of them continued to walk back home.

Their home.

"So…" Yang started off as they were in the forest. "I guess this means that I'm like your big toe now that I'm your girlfriend." She watched Minato just glance at her out of the corner of his eye. "Because you're eventually going to bang me against all of the furniture in the house!"

Yang at least expected to gain Minato's full gaze while he would give her a look. But then that was not what happened.

What came next was something she did not expect at all.

Minato's leg wrapped around her own leg and she tripped. As Yang fell backwards, Minato's hand caught the back of her head. But rather than pull her back up, he kept her tilted backwards as Yang soon found her back leaning against the trunk of a tree. As Minato placed his forehead against her own, his hand trailed along her bare thigh.

"Why wait until were in the house when we could start right here?" He asked.

Her lilac eyes widened as his grey ones were so close to her. She shivered at his touch. His breath felt so warm against her skin. The hair tickled her. She could hear his heart beat. Their noses began to touch. She tried to look away, but she couldn't. Minato just looked so… hypnotic in the moonlight that shined above them. Yang couldn't help but feel… intoxicated by his gaze alone. She was waiting for him to proceed. Just waiting for him to caress her. Waiting for him to continue.

Minato then stood straight up and began to walk away, leaving Yang by herself. The blonde was absolutely dumbfounded at the action as the blue-haired boy continued to gain distance. "Hey! Wait a minute!" She began to run after him. He had just left her in when they were having a good mood! "You can't just leave me feeling like that without finishing the job!"

"Yes, I can. I did that just now."

 **Well, the balance has been put into motion BECAUSE MINYANG IS IN! Not exactly the greatest confession, but I suck at those things so I'm satisfied.**

 **Now we can get a bit of a plot going!** **If you people don't mind a bit of spoilers, there will be a few of chapters before Beacon even happens. They are not filler… maybe. They actually will contribute to the plot. Yes, there will be a plot in this fic. I know, it's miracle. I've taken this slow enough, so ONWARDS WHEN THE NEXT CHAPTER APPEARS!**

 **Warning: Things may turn into borderline M later perhaps. Be warned.**

 **No flames please.**


	12. Chapter 12

**I do not own the Persona series or RWBY, Everything belongs to their respective owners.**

"…Yang… where did you get that?" Minato asked carefully as they both stood inside of a room.

It had been one year and eight months since Minato and Yang had began going out with each other. Now the two were fifteen years old teenagers and they were inside of a dorm room due to a special field trip for their grade. The reasons why though were also peculiar.

The two of them signed up for elective courses that were related to the occupation of hunters and huntresses. Yang did it because she didn't really know what she wanted to do for a future career and thought the missions would be able to provide thrill. Minato just joined up because it was a way to keep a closer eye on Yang so she wouldn't do anything reckless. Plus, he didn't think that any other job would suit him.

Apparently, this school trip for their electives was all about survival in the wilderness. Atlas of all places was the selected Kingdom and the cold climate was going to be incredibly harsh. It was indeed hard, but then thankfully staff were on standby if things became too ugly. The students were told to pair up and live out of civilization for a total of 72 hours.

About half of the students either really did need help or wimped out. Those of the latter would receive extremely low marks. Minato and Yang were the better half of surviving for the proper allotted time since Minato had read a lot and Yang at least had more than common sense.

As a reward for those that passed, they were allowed to be inside of camp cabin rooms that were slightly luxurious as fancy cabin rooms could go. But then as they were getting used to the inside, after a nice dinner, Yang had presented something that concerned Minato a lot.

The blonde held up something rolled up. Minato assumed it was drugs. Cannabis to be more specific.

Yang meanwhile looked at him gave him weird look. "I bought it." She stated as if it were the most obvious thing.

"… I think that's the obvious part." Minato deadpanned, a wary eye still on the stick in her fingers. "My question was where did you get that?"

"That is something that I'm not going to answer." Yang shrugged her shoulders, spinning the object around her fingers. She still noticed Minato's look. "If it makes you feel any better, I did not get it off a dealer. I bought it from a medicinal shop. Aren't you just the least bit curious about it? Just have a go and see if you like it?"

"And that is how addictions start." Minato stated a bit seriously. "Yang, I really don't like that you're trying it out." He shook his head. He soon took a deep breath, allowing for his tone to sink in. "But…" he sighed in defeat. "You used your own money… and you're so lucky it's me that's around. I'll keep an eye on you so you don't do anything stupid."

It was Yang after all. His girlfriend really did mean well, it's just that curiosity got the better of her. If he still forbid it, she would be put into a gloomy mood and he didn't like that. She paid with her own money, it was her choice whether or not to use it.

Not only that, but then it would be a good way for her to learn a lesson about doing drugs since things always go bad when such substance is involved.

"Yes!" Yang cheered, smiling. Hopping up towards Minato, the blonde hugged the boy while giving him a peck on the cheek. "Thank you so much!" Her embrace was certainly tight. She stared at him with her happy expression with a cheekiness to it. "You want anything in return?" She teased, making sure her chest was pressing right against his body. She had been developing and took every opportunity to make sure to tease Minato.

He grabbed her back as he pulled her closer and tickled her chin with his fingers. "Yes, there is in fact." He stated closely to her. Minato heard Yang's breathe in deeply with surprise, eyes widening at his words. "You go wash up first. I don't want the washroom smelling odd when I use it either."

"…Killjoy." Yang pouted with her red cheeks.

"Your fault for always falling for it." Minato stated. It was the same song and dance over and over again since they started their relationship. She would tease him. He would look like he would actually fulfill the actions she suggested and stop at the last moment. If it were a light thing like kissing or caressing, Minato would fulfill it. Only if he felt like it though.

Huffing in amusement, Yang grabbed her pajamas and went into the washroom connected to the room.

Taking a deep breath as he heard running water, Minato laid down on his temporary bed while staring up at the ceiling. How did he managed to end up here? How did all of the bad manage to turn into good?

He was an orphan, left on the doorstep all alone. Minato knew that he had a biological family… but it was their choice to abandon him. But that led a question. Why? Why would they do that?

They led him to a life of what almost everyone would consider miserable. Bullied and beaten, he endured that kind of life for eleven years. Well… maybe ten considering how he was still a toddler or baby when he first entered the orphanage.

But then… maybe he should also be thankful to them as well. Because of them, he met nice people. He became a part of a new great (and very loud) family. He even fell in love and is now in a relationship with a beautiful girl. Exhaling, he closed his eyes and continued to think back to the love and affection he had been given by everyone thanks to Yang.

His world grew silent, but he didn't know how long. Even when there was running water, he didn't hear it. However, Minato's ears caught the sound of a door opening and saw Yang shaking her head wand water droplets trickled out of her hair. Releasing a breath of relief, she looked over. "Well, it's your turn now." She gestured to the bathroom behind her.

Watching Minato grab his own clothing before heading into the bathroom, Yang began to get to work. Grabbing the windows, she made sure that they were not only closed but also locked. She didn't want the smell of the cannabis to get outside and have someone smell what she was up to.

Pulling up a chair, she stepped onto the stool and made sure that she was standing right under the smoke alarm. Taking it apart, she messed around with it a bit so that it wouldn't go off if it did detect the smoke that would be made from the cannabis when she would light it up.

Pushing the chair back, she grabbed a portable lighter that she still held onto from the survival days and began to light the stick. Almost burning any bit of her hair off, she managed to successfully light up the drug and began to feel herself fade away after a feel puffs.

He didn't know exactly how long, maybe 20 minutes, he had spent in the shower. But when he walked out, Minato found himself staring at Yang whose front body was flat on her bed. Her face was turned to the side, a distant gaze on her face. Her knees were also bent and on the mattress, having her butt sticking up into the air.

It was at that moment, Minato began to realize that the room was kind of hot and smelled awful. Also, quite smoky.

Looking around, he noticed something that was lit and on the ground. Narrowing his eyes a bit, he blinked and recognized what it was. The stick of cannabis that Yang had wanted to use.

Alarms, small alarms, began to go off in Minato's head. Snapping his head over to the window, he began to quickly run over. Grabbing the transparent barrier, he shoved the glass open to let all of the smoke out. Sadly, it was too late.

Minato had inhaled too many of the fumes as he himself began to drift into an alternate state of mind.

"…" He sighed. "Yang… did you really have to turn our room into a sauna?" His tone was a bit airy, as he was not thinking straight.

"Look, I'm sorry." Yang apologized in a similar voice. "It's just… I don't want anyone smelling it. You know? It would get me in trouble, yeah. But you also would be at fault, and I don't want that."

"That's really considerable of you, Yang. Really… really considerable." Minato nodded slowly, sluggishly making his way right next to Yang. Getting to her bed, he dropped right off his feet and landed on his bottom next to her. "One problem though… it's really hot in here."

"…" Yang rolled off of the bed and her face landed right against Minato's stomach. "True… That's a huge problem." She stopped and began to think. "You know the best way to become cooler? Take our clothes off."

"…Why didn't I think of that?"

As the two of them stumbled onto their feet, Yang began to take off her pajamas as well as Minato. The female was now only in her undergarments while Minato was in his boxers. Yang dragged herself back onto her own bed while Minato sat down onto his.

The next hour consisted of them having conversations about chips and types and hairstyles. Or, Yang was the one who did all of the talking while Minato just sat in place with a partially interested look to what the blonde was saying. Her ranting on about chips was odd, but the hairstyle part was nice because she would somehow bring him into it.

Just then, Yang suddenly went silent and it caused Minato's stare to lock onto her. "…My body feels weird…" The blonde started off as she looked down and all over herself. "…I think I need to pee."

"…I need to go as well."

"Come on, let's go together." Yang waved the boy over and started walking over to their washroom. Just as Minato got up, Yang had entered the washroom and immediately. "I completely forgot that this place only has communal bathrooms and not private ones. Very bad building design."

"Come on, it's a bad idea to pee our pants." Minato stated walking past her as he pushed the door open to the hallway of the building.

"We're not wearing pants." Yang noted as she followed the boy. The two of them just walked around as if they owned the place. "We're only in our underwe- Oh hey, a sock."

The two of them looked down onto the floor, and there was a single lone sock on the floor. They didn't know why it was there. They didn't care either. They were unsure if there was even a reason to why there was a sock in the middle of the hallway.

But there was just something… hypnotic about it. The piece of clothing was absolutely mesmerizing. The duo spent about forty minutes staring at the sock.

But then their bodies began to remind them what they were even doing in the hallway to begin with. Right, they had to both pee. So the two continued to make their ways to the bathroom.

Minato went into the men's room. Yang followed because she didn't want to be lonely. At least, that was her reasoning. That clinginess went even further when Minato went into a single stall and Yang went in with him. The two of them shared the same toilet to relieve themselves before flushing the toilet.

But then the toilet began to make extremely odd sounds and they did not stop at all. With a combination of loud noise and drugs going through their systems, Yang began to freak out while Minato looked a bit paranoid.

"Shit, shit, shit! We didn't break it, did we?!" Yang whispered in terror. "Did we?! What do we do?! What do we do?!"

As soon as Yang asked that question, time began to start crawling. As if the world around them froze, a single thing clicked in both Minato and Yang's mind at the same time. The two of them looked at each other, their minds being under the influence also bearing a scheme that was either going to work well or end up extremely horrible.

"The sock." They said at the same time, as if it were the greatest idea ever.

Minato ran outside. He sprinted towards where the sock was. Grabbing the piece of clothing, he began to rush back towards the washroom where Yang waited for him. Throwing the sock into the toilet, Yang let out a cheer. The toilet had gone quiet. It stopped flushing.

For about a second.

Suddenly, the water began to start rising.

It continued to rise.

It wouldn't stop rising.

Suddenly, the water began to overflow all over the bathroom.

Yang watched in horror while Minato witnessed everything in morbid realization. The two of them had just started flooding a bathroom. A bathroom that was meant to be shared by everyone in the building. Again, bad building design but that was not the issue at the moment.

The two of them began to make a mad dash towards their room. Grabbing the knob, Minato jiggled the handle but then it didn't open the door. Yang pushed him aside to try herself. She failed as well.

It was at that moment the blonde noticed a keyhole on the knob. They both soon began to remember that these doors used keys. Such keys were supposed to open the locks to their rooms so that those that failed the survival tests wouldn't be able to sneak in.

The reason Minato and Yang didn't have their keys on them was because such items were in their pants… which were inside of their room.

"Now what?! We're going to get caught!"

Despite Yang's panic, Minato somehow kept a level head as he began to think. "The window…" His voice was quiet, but it was loud to Yang due to the situation they were in. "I opened the window to let all of the smoke out… it's probably still open."

"Then what are we waiting for?! Let's go!" Yang grabbed Minato arm and began to drag him around halls, this time outside of the building.

It was Atlas in the winter, so there was plenty of snow everywhere. As soon as they both went outside, they were freezing. The fact that Yang was in her undergarments while Minato had only his boxers on did not help their body temperatures either. Continuing to run, Minato began to notice something.

"Yang, you're going straight into the forest. Our room is back at the building." He stated.

Yang looked over and saw that Minato was right. "Shit! Come on, let's get goi-!"

The two of them heard the sound of crunching snow. Turning their heads, they both saw a woman just staring at them. They may have been high, but they could still see the expression on the lady's face at the sight of the two despite her seeming to be extremely exhausted. Shame. Fear. Happiness. Everything at once was right on the face due to two half-people in front of her.

"…Uhh…" Yang looked awkwardly around while Minato buried his face into one of his hands. "…We'll see you around." With that said, Yang began to drag her boyfriend back towards their room.

The two of them immediately climbed through the window and blacked out.

 **Y13**

The woman just trekked through the wilderness, just unable to get that duo out of her head. The event of seeing two half-naked people was… just so bizarre. There was no way she could forget about them. No matter what she wanted to do, they wouldn't leave her memories.

Suddenly, she lost strength in her body and fell down into the snow. Twitching, the lady struggled to move. But she couldn't. She had wasted all of her energy to try and reach civilization. She could have possibly asked for those two teenagers for help, but she couldn't. If they helped her, they would be involved in a world that they shouldn't be a part. A world they weren't ready for.

But as she began to close her eyes while allowing the cold to consume her, she couldn't get that blonde girl out of her head.

Winds soon began to pick up. A spiral began to blow around the female's unmoving body. Snow, either around or from the woman, was picked up by the winds and started to flow across the land. The trip was rather short, finding its way through an open window.

The cold soon began to embrace a blonde in her underwear kissing a blue-haired boy.

 **Y13**

Minato slowly began to blink as he groaned.

What had happened last night? Oh right… Yang had smoked drugs… and he was affected by said drugs…

Slowly sitting up, Minato suddenly paused a moment. He was trying to remember something. All of it then came onto to him like a truck speeding his way. Groaning once again, he buried his face into his hands. He ended up getting high with Yang as well. Exhaling in a bit of exasperation, he put his hands to his side.

"Ow, what was that for?"

His blood froze. Normally, that voice would be a bit comforting to him. But now, it partially startled him. Slowly, he began to look over towards his right side. Right next to him, still under the covers, was Yang sleeping while snuggling against a pillow.

She yawned as she began to get up and rubbed her eyes. "Morning, Minato." She stated, stretching her arms. As her fist collided with Minato cheek gently, she froze as well. She turned her head slowly and saw him right next to her. "…You're in the same bed as me." She stated.

"Apparently." Minato said evenly, trying to keep a neutral voice.

"…Does that mean we…" Yang trailed off, having Minato's eyes widen a little bit. Beginning to check her lower being and feeling around, she gave a thumbs up to the boy. "Nope, everything is okay. A bit chilly, but grea- why is there a bunch of snow in our room?"

Minato raised and eyebrow, not only at Yang's comment but also at her question. Looking around, he too saw what she was seeing. The cold, white powder had been scattered all over their room. As if it had been snowing inside of the building.

But before they could even think anymore, they heard a voice. "Whoa!"

Snapping their heads over towards the window, the two of them saw Tai and Qrow as apparently they were just outside of their window. Immediately, Minato pulled the covers over him and Yang. "What are you two doing outside?" He asked with a weird look on his face as the blonde peeked around him.

"Just thought about going for a walk and was going to ask if you two wanted to join us." Tai noted.

Qrow however grinned. "But… it looks like you two are a little busy at the moment. Probably last night as well."

Tai turned over to Qrow. "You don't mean…"

"I do."

"…"

"…"

The two males began to cheer as they slapped their hands together and shook hard. While they were laughing, Yang felt like she had to correct them. While it was amusing to see Minato face morphed into the look he had on at the moment, she should do something in order to keep him from being a bit grumpy for the rest of the day. "Nothing like that happened." She stated. No need to mention that she smoked pot essentially.

Tai and Qrow went silent at the revelation. "…Boo." Qrow stuck his thumb down while letting his disappointment show.

"You guys are teenagers, right?" Tai asked with a disturbed look.

"You guys are adults, right?" Minato questioned back.

The conversation would have continued. But then there were voices yelling very loudly in the halls.

"IT WAS A SOCK! IT WAS A FUCKING SOCK!

 **Loosely based on a true story. Don't do drugs.**

 **No flames please.**


	13. Omake - Intro and Christmas

**I do not own the Persona series or RWBY. Everything belongs to their respective owners.**

 **(** Play **Heavy Day – Daisuke Ishiwatari)**

When the music starts, Yang and Minato stand across from one another with a field being their surroundings. Over both of Yang's hands were a pair of gauntlets. She slowly cracks both of her knuckles, then bends forward slightly while beckoning Minato with a single finger in both a cocky and teasing manner. Minato however grips the top of his head with his left hand, yanking the skull back then forth which pop his neck while keeping his right hand in his pocket. Both his hands are covered in gauntlets as well.

While Yang holds her left fist out, Minato slightly tenses his posture. He then bumps his own left fist against the blonde's. As soon as their fingers make contact, the two of them hop backwards. Yang steps forward in an attempt of an uppercut. Minato however steps forward as well and throws a punch downwards at the same time.

When their fists collide, the two of them create a small shockwave that knocks the both of them away from each other. At the same time, sparks fly from the center of the area.

As the music picks up, the sparks take over and show that Atlas logo as the background turns black. From behind the logo, Yang's hand reaches out from behind before snapping it shut and crushing the picture. Bringing her hand back, she grins with confidence while the camera zooms closer to her face.

The screen turns black once more. The Rooster Teeth logo shows up next. Minato appears from the right side of the screen, smashing the logo to pieces with a backhanded strike Curling the left hand as if he were gripping something, he stares forward with a neutral expression before the camera zooms into his eye.

A phrase pops up when a scenic background of the four seasons flashing one after the other. The sentence reads NOW THE TIME OF FATE HAS COME. A single second later, such a setting turns dark with a single coffin standing alone behind the words HEAVEN OR HELL.

Just before the lyrics start, the title Y13 is shown with Yang and Minato standing back to back behind it.

 **DETO-**

 **NA-**

 **TOR**

 **WILL**

 **Come out of nowhere, yeah**

A series of flashes occur, all presenting images. Such images are of Yang. The first one is in her face, showing her grinning. The next contains her patting Minato's shoulder a few times to the beat of the bass. After the previous scene, it shows her watching a single strand of blonde hair fall before yelling out in rage while her hair is suddenly set on fire and her eyes turn red.

For a final moment, she cups a hand around her chin before flicking both hands back through her hair.

Just before the next words, the phrase DEAD OR ALIVE flicker for just a second on-screen.

 **TRICK**

 **CHEAT**

 **FRAUD**

 **LIE**

 **Sulfur in the air**

Just like Yang's moment, the next few scenes that flash later are of Minato. The first one shows him sitting alone underneath a sun while tons of people pass by him without even looking at him. After that, Minato is seen sitting in a classroom and looking up towards Yang who is talking to him. The third scene presents Minato only standing in place with an uncaring expression, his left hand being lifted up while Thanatos stands behind the blue-haired boy menacingly.

The final moment is then showing Minato up at his left hand as black smoke poured out of the palm before glancing over towards the screen.

Before the pre-chorus starts, the words EVIL OR VIRTUE flash for a brief moment.

 **[Pre-Chorus]**

" **So let it be, oh let it be"**

 **Says all debaters**

Ruby is first seen running around with a chew toy while Zwei is chasing her. Qrow then shows himself taking a swing from his flask before giving it a strange expression. Tai is after the black-haired male, carrying a stack of papers. After that, the scene suddenly cuts towards a moment where Yang, Minato, Ruby, Qrow, and Tai all are together around a couch interacting with one another.

 **Six times knockin' on the door**

 **No response, but hey, you're ready**

Back to the very first scene of the theme when Yang and Minato were fighting, the blonde is tapping her heel while bobbing her head to the tune of the theme. Minato only raises an eyebrow before the two of them leap at each other and then colliding.

Just before they clashed, the question RULE or REBEL showed itself on-screen.

 **[Chorus]**

 **BACK TO BACK!**

 **Death comes arrivin' on a Midnight Train!**

Weiss is soon seen, spinning her rapier around with practice and precision. The white-haired girl even shows a few glyphs around her as her faced showed complete concentration to the task at hand. Blake comes after, jumping all over the place leaving shadow clone after shadow clone. But after a few moments, the cat-Faunus lunges forward with her sword poised to strike.

Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang are then shown standing in a lined up respective order doing their own things while the words TEAM RWBY show up in front of them.

 **BACK TO BACK!**

 **Conscience is screamin' to the End!**

Ren spins his gun in his hand, holding it up while leveling his gaze forward. Nora spins around, smashing her hammer to the ground before giving a goofy grin while spreading her arms out. Pyrrha is up next, sharpening her blade with a whetstone.

Minato, Ren, Nora, and then Pyrrha all line up. Just like Team RWBy, they do their own little interactions with one another while they are in the background of the words TEAM ARNN.

 **BACK TO BACK!**

 **Cannot let anyone do it again!**

Many adults are gathered in the office of Beacon Academy. Ozpin has his arms up on his desk while his hands cover the lower-half of his face. Glynda frowns at the scene before her. Ironwood is glaring at Qrow while the latter is giving the former a frown of his own.

Above them all as if they were spirits, four girls were transparent above them with their eyes closed. The first two were unfamiliar, the colors of green and then yellow being behind the respective girls. The third was Amber with the scar on her face and an orange background behind her. The fourth was Yang, snow blowing behind her.

But slowly, all of the girls began to be dragged towards Yang until she was the only one left.

The words FIGHT OR FLIGHT appear soon after for just a moment.

 **BACK TO BACK!**

 **I can no longer pretend!**

Growing from a patch of darkness, Salem stands and looks forward. Behind her, Tyrian, Watt, and Hazel stand over to her right. Cinder, Emerald, and Mercury however all stand to her right. But Salem's gaze slowly turns into a small frown as she sees black smoke start pouring in front of her from a source.

As the camera slowly turned, it showed Minato staring back at them with Yang and everyone else behind him.

The words NOW OR NEVER then show up in front of the entire faction.

 **Give me a break, you damned!**

 **Just wanna get back my dice again**

Back to the fighting from earlier, Yang and Minato are still seen having a friendly spar with one another. But it only lasts a second when their fists collide together. Within a sudden flash after impact, their setting changes to a dead field with all life perished around them. Yang is all bruised with small trails of blood over her body as her hair is on fire.

As she grits her teeth and glares with red eyes, her focus is shown looking at Minato who only stands in place with his eyes glowing red behind a mask that looks similar to Thanatos' while black smoke rolls off his body as well.

As Yang roars in a moment of fury, she charges forward. Minato however silently does the same thing at the same time. Minato reaches up with his right hand and grabs a coffin out of thin air, throwing the object and it lands right-side up at the perfect distance between him and Yang so it acts as a small wall.

 **BLAZING DOWN!**

Still running towards each other, the words SHOW YOUR TRUE COLORS form in front of them. Yang crosses her arms over her chest and pivots in place when she arrive in front of the coffin. Minato meanwhile stomps forward with his left foot.

 **What a Heavy Day!**

Spreading her arms out with force, Yang forms a Y with her entire body the back of her right fist smashes against the coffin. While that happened, Minato was throwing a full punch with his weight being put forward, making his body sort of form a 3 with how he looked.

Just as the two of them slam their attacks against the coffin, the impact makes the scene freeze and focuses on their bodies. The screen snaps into darkness as their body and coffin outlines form the image of the title Y13.

* * *

This was a story about a child born on Christmas day. There were two travelers who restlessly searched for somewhere to stay on such a cold, frozen night. Every house in Patch was full and every bed on the island was taken no matter what building it was.

However, the couple were very fortunate to come across one place that was unoccupied. That place was known as the Xiao Long household.

Standing directly over a single crib, both Minato and Yang were at separate ends. The two of them looked down at their child with happy eyes. "Aww, look how cute our baby is Minato." Yang smiled, gently poking their child's cheek with her finger.

"Of course they're cute." Minato stated, leaning against the edges of the crib to get a better look of the child. "You did give birth to them after all." He then held a finger up and allowed the small body to grab it. "Isn't that right?" His question was unanswered because of the child's lack of speech capabilities.

There was then a sudden knock on the door that was behind Minato. The pair looked up from admiring their child and looked over. "Hmm?" Yang asked with a hum. "I wonder if they're the three shepherds coming to visit our new messiah."

The door was suddenly kicked open. Due to the force being extremely powerful, Minato had to quickly duck down as he watched the wood be kicked off of its hinges and fly across the room. "MAZAL TOV, MOTHER FUCKERS!" Qrow yelled out as the blue-haired male turned his head back around. Right behind the black-haired male were Tai and Raven. The former had a cheerful look just like Qrow. Raven however had an expression which showed she clearly didn't want to be where she was at the moment. "We are here to visit our newborn king! We are the three remaining members of STRQ, sent by the heavenly Summer Rose to come and pay our respects to our messiah!"

Minato simply gave the three of them flat looks. Yang's expression was also a bit dull. "Wait," She stated off after Qrow had finished. "Aren't you guys supposed to be shepherds?"

"Yeah, we're shepherds!" Qrow nodded his head before folding his arms. "We take the misfortunate men and women of the land, and show them how to truly live their lives… BY SHOWING THEM THE WAY OF ALCOHOLISM!"

"Yeah- wait, what?" Tai joined in for the celebration. But then he cut himself off when he heard what Qrow had said and looked over.

Raven sighed. "It's exactly how you heard it, Tai." She deadpanned.

"Oh, hey mom." Yang saw the black-haired lady and greeted her with sarcasm. "Didn't know you were coming."

"Sarcasm is unbecoming of you." Raven simply replied back before massaging the top of her head. "My first appearance and this is how I'm introduced?"

"…" Minato had stayed silent throughout the entire time, but then he felt like he had to say something. He eyed Yang before looking back to the trio. "You all do realize you're supposed to be hailing the newborn king, right?"

Hearing knocks, everyone looked over towards the back of the house. "Well, forget about them." Yang waved her arm before turning around to face the back. "These must be the three wise-men here to bear gifts to our newborn king- Oh, you've got to be fucking kidding me!" She suddenly switched into an annoyed mood when she saw the new trio that just arrived through the back of the building.

"Well, I feel welcome." Watts stated sarcastically as he was the one who led the small group who had just arrived.

"Our first appearances and this is how we're introduced?" Hazel grunted, folding his arms.

Yang sighed in exasperation. "Let me guess." She said not to happily. "Instead of the three wise-men, you're the three dickholes."

"No, we're not the three dickholes." Tyrian replied back. "I find that highly offensive."

"I don't think the three narcissistic assholes is any better, Tyrian." Hazel chided the scorpion-Faunus.

Watts meanwhile cleared his throat. "Anyways," He slightly strained the word to get everyone back on topic. "We bring gifts for our new born king. Take it away, Tyrian."

"Alrighty!" Tyrian clapped his hand together multiple times. "Since I'm first, I have the best gift. It's so obvious." He then began to dig around a pack on his waist. "Behold!" He then pulled something out. "I brought mold!"

"…" Everyone in the household just stared. "…Are. You. Serious?" Yang asked slowly as she slowly began to walk over towards Tyrian.

"Damn it, Tyrian," Watts grabbed the scorpion-Faunus by the collar. "I told you that was a terrible present!"

Hazel sighed, shifting around a bit to gain the attention. "Allow me to rectify my colleague's mistake as for I have the second present… common sense."

Minato raised an eyebrow. "Common sense?" He asked. "You mean something like good judgement in practical matters?"

"That is correct." Hazel nodded his head before looking over to Yang. "Blondie, stop trying to make puns. You're not a good comedian. They're also so terrible they're not that funny. Stop it."

Yang blinked before looking over to Minato. The blue-haired boy however shrugged his shoulders. "He kind of has a point there. But you don't have to stop if you don't want it."

"Anyways, it's time for the final gift." Yang cleared her throat, turning back around. "I'm sure at least this final wise-man has the perfect present for our newborn king."

"Indeed, I do." Watts nodded his head while bringing up a bag before putting it on the ground. "Now, be amazed as today our newborn king will be taking away…" He then pulled the sack down in order to reveal a large box with some kind of gaming console. "An Xbox One!"

"WHAT?!"

Everyone snapped their heads over towards the crib when they heard a voice yell out. Popping out from the crib, Ruby was seen pointing a finger out of the open front door. "GET THAT MOTHER FUCKING WEAK-ASS SHIT OUT OF HERE, YOU COCK-SUCKING BITCH!"

As wave of gasps was heard throughout the household at the sound of the person in the crib yelling. However… "...Aww" Yang cooed. "Did you hear that, Minato? Our baby's first words!" She then began to start babbling incoherently while playing with the one in the crib. "Aww, that's right. That's right, you did speak just now."

"…What?" Watts asked angrily. "Didn't you hear what she just said? She just made fun of the Xbox One!"

"Should have gone with a PS4, huh?" Tyrian asked smugly, enjoying the look on Watts face.

"Our baby's just been born and she's already swearing." Minato deadpanned but then sighed. "Well, I guess it could be a Christmas miracle that she can do so at this age." He brushed a hand through his hair. "Merry Christmas, everyone."

"Happy Hanukkah!" Qrow exclaimed after.

Everyone soon began to gather around the crib. Of course, they were each on their respective sides. Yang had moved over so that Qrow, Tai, and Raven were all behind her. Minato meanwhile shifted around so Tyrian, Hazel, and Watts were behind him. "Merry Christmas to all…" They all chanted at the same time.

Ruby then cleared her throat.

"And to all a GO FUCK YOURSELF!"

 **You have to admit, Ruby swearing is both adorable yet hilarious at the same time. It's OOC, but this is an omake. Meanwhile, so many reveals have been made during this omake.**

 **I don't mean to offend Xbox One players. Killer Instinct is on that console and I love that game so much. I just made it out like so because pretty much all the Persona games are on Sony consoles only.**

 **Happy holidays, folks. It's not that close, but I wish you all festive cheer in the upcoming holiday season. Eat, drink, be merry, and keep the kids away from Santa. My family is safe due to us having an electronic fireplace.**

 **As for the intro part of the omake... I just wanted to write one. So, that's why this is posted.**

 **No flames please.**


	14. Chapter 14

I **do not own the Persona series or RWBY. Everything belongs to their respective owners.**

"Question eleven."

"The cleaner the crystal, the more powerful the Dust effects will be."

"Question twelve."

"The amount of the crystal cut affects the strength and properties of the Dust when ground down."

"Question thirteen."

"False."

"Why is that?"

Minato found himself being answered with silence while keeping an eye on his own workbook that was filled with notes that he had personally taken down. While his focus was on his writing, there was also a textbook that was sitting upright in front of him. After a few seconds, he slowly peeked up to see Yang sitting across the living room table in front of him.

"Yang," Minato said, noting the girl's features just staring at him blankly. "Why is it false?"

"…Uhh…" Yang trailed off trying to think of a proper response. "Because it doesn't affect the body?" Minato simply responded silently just by staring back at her. "Okay, fine, you caught me! I peeked at the back of the textbook for the answers! But why did you have to ask me that when my answer was technically correct?!"

The lower half of Minato's face was covered. But Yang partially knew what Minato was thinking because of how his eyes looked. "It's also good to know the reasoning behind such so that you could use that knowledge and work around it if times were to arrive." He just explained to her before peeking back down towards his work. "Dust can be taken internally as long as it does not enter the bloodstream and it is in small enough quantities based on the quality of its element. Wind, since our bodies need air, is an example that can be taken in a bit more than lightning. How else do you manage to see those circus performers manage to breath elements without Semblances?"

"Still, it's dangerous to ingest Dust though, right?" Yang asked.

Minato nodded his head. "Correct." He answered.

Now that they were both at the age of sixteen, the two of them had to work harder. Since they both decided that they wanted to try out becoming hunters and huntresses as their career paths, there was only one school that provided such education in the Kingdom they lived in; Beacon Academy. The requirements to get in were fair, but then the chances to get in increased by grades.

"Okay, this may be coming out of the blue-"

The female only snorted at the sentence Minato said. "Blue…" She just managed to giggle out, earning herself a straight gaze from the boy.

Such laughter shut him up for a good few seconds. Waiting for the blonde to calm down, he then began to speak again. "Unintentional puns aside, this is coming out of the blue." He bent forward on the table. "How has it been going? With you having… ice powers all of a sudden."

Slightly smirking, Yang only blew in Minato direction. A small stream of snowflakes traveled across the table in the air, the display seeming to make the little white bits dance. The blue-haired boy's nose twitched at the sudden drop in temperature and she laughed. "Not bad." Her smirk however dropped. "Though… it's kind of weird."

Still peeking above the textbook, Minato only closed and set it down on the table. "How?" He partially frowned with concern.

She groaned. "I don't know." She scratched the top of her head. "It's just… it's a thing that started since we got back from Atlas. Just suddenly having the ability to create and control ice. It's definitely not a Semblance, as you guessed. But it doesn't take any Aura for me to do any of that stuff. Like… what I'm doing is magic."

"…Are you sure you still do not want to tell anyone else at least?"

"I don't want them to worry about me." Yang sighed, propping her arms up on the table. "Dad's already busy with work since I've been in elementary school. Qrow's all around Remnant doing who knows what. And Ruby already has a lot on her own hands with trying to keep up at Signal. Not only that, but I have a bad feeling no one really knows what's up with me. It doesn't matter what doctor I'll go to, they won't know." She began to look down towards the ground slightly. "…I don't know why either… but… Minato, I'm kind of scared."

Feeling something on her hand that was still on the table, she looked over to see Minato holding it tightly. Looking, she saw how Minato was giving her a rare gaze of so much emotion one would never normally have on a face. "Of what?" He asked quietly, knowing that it was not like the blonde to admit she was scared of something.

Yang only brought up her other hand. Opening her palm, a small tornado of snow formed as it suddenly turned into an icicle within less than a second. "This." Such an answer was simple, but then it held a heavy tone between the two of them. "But, enough of such a glum mood." She put a smile to change the atmosphere before just lying on the floor. "I'm going to take a break now."

The blue-haired boy glanced up towards the clock that was in the room. If the blonde wanted to change the subject, then so let it be. "It's only been five minutes since your last break." He noted, but then saw Yang's expression while a small whine escaped from her lips. "But it's your choice whether you want one or not." He sighed. "I'll go get mail."

Yang smiled. Wriggling around, she sighed. Closing her eyes, she ran her fingers through her golden-blonde hair as it had cascaded among the floor. Wriggling around, the girl made herself comfortable. She had air escape her lips at a slow and steady pace, as if just waiting for something. Even breath she took made her chest seem to expand and then shrink back to normal size.

But then it was suddenly quiet for a few minutes. Usually, when Minato would get the mail, he would at least make a sound that he was back inside. Right now, there wasn't even the creak of a door being heard.

Opening her eyes, Yang let out a cry of surprise when she saw Minato standing right above her, his face unseen since he was bending forward and the light was shadowing the expression. "What were you doing?!" Yang exclaimed, quickly scrambling to her feet in order to see her boyfriend just having his usual expression of neutrality.

"I thought you were fell asleep an was debating if I should wake you up or not." The blue-haired male only answered. "But anyways, there's one letter for you and one for me." He handed the envelope to the blonde girl.

Just giving Minato an odd look, she grabbed the paper and opened it up. Taking out the letter that was inside, she watched as Minato did the same. Eyeing her letter again, her eyes took time to read the words. "Dear Miss Yang Xiao Long…" She read aloud to herself. "As an exceptional student of Signal Academy, we of the Arcobaleno Apparel company would like offer you a chance to partake in the Mistral Tournament if you accept the condition that we sponsor you!" Yang jaw dropped. "All travel accommodations and finances will be provided upon acceptance!"

Minato blinked as he looked up from his letter. "Did you just say Arcobaleno Apparel? You mean that giant chain of clothing stores that has one of the largest varieties of many assortments of wear?" He raised an eyebrow. "I wonder if they caught wind of you loving to shop at their stores and this is just another way for you to stay extremely loyal to them."

"Who cares?!" Yang exclaimed in Minato's face, causing the boy's eye to twitch at the sheer volume he endured. "They want to not only sponsor me, but as well as participate in the Mistral Tournament!" Minato picked at his ear with his pinky in the middle of Yang's excitement. "The Mistral Tournament! Those two things, it's awesome!"

Minato only hummed while watching the blonde jumping up and down. "Interesting." He only stated before holding his own letter up. "I've been given an offer to be sponsored as well if I were to take part of the Mistral Tournament myself."

"Oh, really?" Yang bent forward, causing Minato to arc his back backwards. "What company?"

"Manners Maketh Man." Minato answered.

"…" Yang raised and eyebrow in confusion. "Hah?"

"Triple M as you like to call it." The blue-haired boy made it easier for the blonde.

"Oh, that place." Yang folded her arms as her tone took on a bit of realization. "But either way, what are the odds of both of us being offered to be sponsored if we fight in the Mistral Tournament!? A tournament that some of the greatest fighters all over the world our age take a part of!"

Minato hummed, nodding his head, still looking over his letter. "I wonder how we managed to catch their attention in order for them to give us these offers."

"Who cares?!" Yang draped her arm over his shoulder and pulled him tightly. "Look out, Mistral! This duo is coming over to kick some ass!"

 **Y13**

"I knew you two were good, but I didn't think you and Yang would be this good!"

Despite Qrow having to be away a lot lately, he seemed to show up at some of the best times for some reason. It was like there was a sixth sense of his to know where he should be at what time. The man never even said where he would go at times as well. He would just come and go whenever he claimed duty called.

But back to present moments, Minato was sitting outside on the porch with the black-haired man after being dragged out by such an adult. The blue-haired boy felt his head being shaken around while Qrow was ruffling his hair. "Thanks." He only said, almost wondering how his brain was still stuck in one area inside of his skull.

Qrow only chuckled in amusement as he then settled down into a chair, looking across the scenery that the night also provided. "Yeah, you two are certainly a couple of cool kids." He only sighed, taking out his flask and taking a swing before offering it to Minato. "You sure you still don't want a taste? You're the type that can't get drunk in the first place."

Minato shook his head. "I still prefer not to drink alcohol."

The adult shrugged, patting the chair next to him to signal Minato to take a seat. "Whatever you want, kid." He took another sip. Releasing a content sound, he heard the door behind him open. Looking over, he saw a blonde female. "Hey, Yang, take a seat with us."

The blonde teenager looked around. "There aren't any chairs left." She stated. Minato rolled his eyes, almost having a feeling he knew what he had to do. Shifting over, he only took up half of the chair as there was now space for Yang. Leaning onto his knees, he knew that Yang was grinning as she walked over and took a seat down next to him. "Such a gentleman." The blonde teased.

"So, Yang," Qrow slipped his flask away. "You and Minato are headed to Mistral I hear." He stroked the stubble on his chin. "At least that's what you two have in mind."

"Yup!" Yang nodded her head rapidly while Minato nodded only once.

"Tai hear about this stuff yet?" The uncle asked, eyeing the two teenagers. He saw them shake their heads. "Hmm…" He frowned, causing the duo to give an odd look to the adult.

"Something wrong?" The blonde questioned.

"Nothing." Qrow waved his hand. "Nothing really."

But then Minato noticed the shift in the adult's being. The eyes seemed to be in a bit of thought, as if a small debate were going on inside of the head. The mouth twisted into a distasteful image, seeming to fight back words. "You can tell us what's on your mind." Minato stated bluntly, immediately having Yang and Qrow look at him. But then the blonde looked over to the other male.

The red-eyed male just stared at Minato with surprise. But then he let out a small bark of laughter. "I completely forgot how observant you can be!" Qrow exclaimed before calming down. "You know, you just made me remember something you said when we first met. Something along the lines of Yang being at an age where she can look at herself responsibly." He looked down to the porch boards.

Yang tilted her head. "What brings that up?" She asked as Qrow scratched his head.

"Maybe because you're at an age to finally know where you mom is and talk to her."

 **Yup, Minato and Yang are going to be going to Mistral! To take part in the Mistral Tournament! Not only that, but also to confront Yang's mom! What do you all think will happen! ...Maybe I should stop trying to get you all pumped as the result may be pathetic.**

 **No flames please.**


	15. Chapter 15

**I do not own the Persona series or RWBY. Everything belongs to their respective owners,**

Mistral.

The Kingdom was located on the continent of Anima, the second-largest landmass in Remnant located to the east. Mistral controlled the most territory of all four Kingdoms, encompassing a wide range of ecosystems and many diverse cultures. One would say those cultures were too diverse, from the purest styles to the foulest methods.

Due to so much land, the inhabitants were able to create homes and buildings among the high cliffs and its walls. The style of it all was extremely unique, completely different from the design one would usually see from all of the other Kingdoms.

But then tourism was the last thing on the mind of Yang who was with Minato. With the engine rumbling through their ears, the pair were on top of a yellow motor bike and making their way around the paths that were large enough for them. On top of Yang's head was a yellow biker's helmet and yellow-tinted goggles. Minato meanwhile wore a blue biker helmet that covered his entire face with a visor so that no dirt would get in his eyes.

How did the two of them get their hands on such a vehicle? The motorcycle was actually a gift for Yang from Minato because of the blonde's fifteenth birthday. The first time was certainly a sight for the other family members when they saw Yang crush Minato in a tight hug while lifting him up in the air.

Back to the present however, the blonde was focusing on driving since the motorcycle belongs to her. Meanwhile, Minato had a map open as he was attempting to navigate Yang towards the arena they were supposed to go to in order to take part in the Mistral Tournament.

Arriving last night, the two had arrived to the respective hotel in order to get the rooms that were assigned to them. Showing the proof that each of them were registered due to being sponsored, they ended up being on separate floors but then they didn't mind it at all. Being taken to their rooms, they were also given instructions to arrive at the arena about an hour before the actual event began.

"Make a right." Minato stated still keeping an eye on the map. Despite the even volume of his voice, Yang still heard him over the engine and turned in that direction. "Now just keep going straight and we should be there eventually."

Minato was right about that. Only a couple of minutes passed, but then their sights began to come upon a massive building that looked like it was something that came from a history book and was remade due to modern looks. So many people were coming and going out of what looked like to be entrances and exits.

Continuing to drive, Yang was looking around. Finding what she thought to be a decent spot to park, she stopped the engine and got off. Grabbing her helmet, she took it off and shook her head to get rid of the tight feeling. Not only that, it was a good way to let her hair out. Sighing with relief, she saw that Minato had already torn his own helmet off.

Scanning the area, she began to pat herself down soon after. Pulling a piece of paper out of her pocket, she looked over it to make sure that everything was in order. "Minato, come on," Yang grabbed the boy by his sleeve suddenly and began to drag him along without hearing him complain. "We've got to hand in our proof that were competing."

There was a decently long line, but it didn't seem too bad. Yang slipped to the back with Minato and she released her grip on his sleeve. Minato simply eyed each and every one of the people. Apparently, most of them were their age group. Ah, right, the Mistral Tournament today was for those ranging from 13 years to 17. But if one was already a part of a proper huntsmen and huntress academy, they were not to participate.

"Feeling a bit nervous?" Yang asked, grabbing his attention by poking his chest with her elbow. When he looked back, he saw that she was giving him a teasing grin. "Come on, dude, you're here because of a sponsorship. There's no way you're getting cold feet here and now."

Minato blinked before shaking his head. "I never answered your question and you're just putting words in my mouth." He commented, just looking at the grin that Yang still kept on her face.

Yang then shook her head, still not letting her grin go away. "Seriously, you should at least be a little bit excited. I mean, this is the Mistral Tournament! This is supposed to be a place where the best fighters around Mistral of our age group come here and show off how good they can be! Heck, if we seem good enough, we could even get Beacon Academy to offer a scholarship!"

The female soon felt a single finger press against her lips. Blinking, she looked back towards Minato who was the one that was performing such an action. "Yang, volume." He stated before rolling his head around. "Remember where we are. We don't want to disturb anyone."

His words only made her chuckle however as she moved his finger away.

Continuing to wait for the line to move on, Yang began playing around on her scroll while occasionally showing the screen to Minato. They soon began to start getting closer as the line began to shrink. Eventually, it became their turn as the two of them presented the letters that had been delivered to their place.

One of the officials that was sitting down examined the one that Yang handed over. "Hmm…" They hummed while narrowing their eyes, making sure that their stuff was actually legitimate. They then looked over towards Minato's. "One second." They requested before getting up and walking away.

"Please wait over to the side until he clarifies that your sponsorships are real." A second adult told them, gesturing to the side of the table that the two of them were standing in front of.

Quietly, the two of them moved over to the respective side. But then when they did, Yang groaned. "Seriously?" She asked, bending her knees, leaning back, and looking up at the same time. It was like she had just lost strength in her knees, lower back, and neck. "We waited in that line for so long and now they're telling us to wait some more?"

Minato stood still, continuing to listen to Yang's complaints patiently. He was used to just listening to any one of her family members in general. So, he was used to being the one to not say anything while someone else would rant on. Well, not rant on. Just speak without a break. Keeping her in the corner of his eye, he raised his right hand and then pat her head gently.

As soon as he did that, Yang immediately just went silent. Slowly craning her neck over towards the blue-haired male, the blonde just gave him an incredulous look before just letting out a bark of laughter. "What was that for?!" She asked, punching him in the arm in what she called a playful way.

Minato shrugged his shoulders, feeling that her punch stung a bit.

"You Xiao Long?

"Mister Arisato, I presume."

Hearing their respective last names, Yang and Minato both looked forward. In front of them were two more people that they did not recognize at all. They didn't want to judge, but then they thought that the two of them were the ones to represent their sponsors respectively based on their clothing.

The one who stood directly in front of Yang was a young woman with pink hair. The left side of her head was shaved away as the bangs were brushed to the right and she had shoulder-length hair. Inside of her mouth was a lollipop as her blue eyes seemed to be scanning the blonde. The female wore a small-blue tank-top which exposed her mid-riff while she had on a normal pair of jeans. On her neck were tattoos of machine gears.

"…Yes…" Yang answered slowly, a bit taken back at the look of the female who may have been the one to take care of Yang.

The female grinned. "Good ta meet ya, sweetie." She offered a hand which Yang shook. "Name's Rouge." Her eyes began to look over the blonde and whistled. "Both a fighter an' got the figure, huh?" Her grin grew wider. "No wonder yer the first one ta get us ta offer ya what we did." With a wave of her hand, Rouge began to walk into the arena. "C'mon, we've got ta get ya changed fer the fights."

Yang tilted her head with a confused frown as she started to follow the woman. "Get me changed for fights?" She asked. "What's wrong with what I'm wearing?"

The woman laughed. "Nothin' at all!" She exclaimed, throwing her hands into the air for emphasis. "But we at Arcobaleno Apparel gotta make ya stand and make sure ta show the world yer representin' us. In other words, yer kinda like a livin' advertisement. Which is why yer getting a new look. We'll even let ya keep the clothes if they catch yer fancy!"

Back with Minato, the one who stood in front of was a blonde male with his hair gelled back. He had on a black tuxedo that had a vertical stripe design. Underneath it was a white dress shirt and a striped tie. With a pair of trousers to finish the look, formal was easily the look Minato would use to describe the man. The adult even had on a pair of glasses and carried and umbrella.

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance. My name is Noir." The man introduced himself, slightly bending forward in order to bow. Minato nodded back in response. "Now, follow me." Noir turned around and began to walk away in the opposite direction of Rouge and Yang. "You do look up to standards as well as clothing from our stores. We just need to clean you up."

… Blinking at how curt and straight to business Noir was, Minato began to trail at a moderate pace after the man.

 **Y13**

Yang whistled to herself as she began to look at herself in a mirror.

Like before, she had on a tan jacket that was bared her entire midriff. But this one was different as it had several fringes on both sides and was also sleeveless and had an unhooked belt around it. The coat was unzipped which revealed the from of a push-up black sports bra that had a golden and a brown outline. She wore a brown belt that bore a golden buckle and there were brown, pleated pieces of material that seemed to be the same as her jacket with golden outlines and her emblem emblazoned on the right-most pleat in gold. Hanging from the pleated pieces were shortened belt straps. Underneath that was a pair of black mini shorts. She had brown, knee-high boots and orange over-the-knee socks, with the right sock pushed down just below the knee. Around her neck was her orange infinity scarf and her hands had on her fingerless black gloves. To add the finishing touch. She had on her head a cowboy hat with her emblem in gold pinned on the top left."

"Lookin good, girl." Rouge patted Yang on the shoulder, leaning onto the blonde. The woman smiled. "Yer gonna be turnin' a lotta heads when ya start walkin' out." She chuckled soon after shaking her head. "I shoulda ask this before goin' on my lil talk, but whaddya think? Sharp n' sexy if ya ask me."

Looking all over herself, Yang looked back towards the adult and grinned herself. "You took the words right out of my mouth." She commented with a small laugh.

Eyeing the clock, Rouge gestured towards the door with her thumb. "Shows about ta start so better start headin' ta the waitin' room. It's just down ta the right at the end of the hall where they're all gatherin'." Stepping back, Rouge nodded. "Go get em, girl."

"Thanks." Yang nodded back with her grin still on her face. Opening the door of the private changing room, the blonde looked around to see a few other teens her age already making their way to her right. Turning in that direction, she started moving.

Entering the waiting room, she looked around and could only describe the place as a lounge of sorts. There were also TVs on the walls, probably so that people could watch the fights if they wanted to. Stepping in, she began to notice that Rouge was right. Many guys and girls were turning their heads when she was noticed. Yang also noticed that it was mainly the guys that leaned a bit closer from their spots.

Eventually, Yang found a place to sit. However, it was next to a spot that was occupied and the person taking up that place had a wide berth around her. "Yo," She spoke up, causing the person to look up. "Can I sit next to you?" Yang pointed down to the space. The female nodded her head with a bit of surprise and caused her red hair to shake around a bit. Setting herself down, Yang looked to the red-head. "The name's Yang. How about you?"

The other female blinked at the sudden casual greeting she was receiving before smiling. "My name is Pyrrha Nikos." She introduced herself politely. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Same here." Yang gave a two-fingered salute before slouching in her spot with a relaxed sigh. "So, this your first time fighting here?"

Pyrrha shook her head. "No." She answered. "This is actually going to be my fourth year participating."

Yang whistled. "Damn, you must have a lot of experience fighting a whole bunch of guys." She complimented with an impressed tone. "Won any of those years?"

Pyrrha apparently now wore a bit of a bashful attitude. "If I win this one, it will be my fourth victory in a row."

"Whew, three in the bag already?" Yang questioned, eyeing the red-head out of the corner of her eyes. "That's got to mean you're one heck of a fighter." She then turned her full head over towards her. "So, got any tips for me? This is my first year here and all." She then saw that she was being stared at. "…What's with the funny look you're giving me? Something on my face?"

"Hm?" Pyrrha blinked before leaning back a bit sheepishly. "N-no! Sorry!" She took a breath to calm her nerves. "It's just that… I'm not used to being approached by people so forwardly. As for tips, just try your best and make sure to save your best for later rounds. Unless you are fully confidant that you can take on all of the contenders without any problems, do not show off your Semblance until fully necessary or keep it hidden."

"Got it, thanks." Yang held up her hand and gave Pyrrha a thumbs up. Looking over, she then saw someone that was about to go on her mind. "Minato, over here!"

Watching the blue-haired boy looking around, she made sure that she was also waving to grab his attention. As soon as he saw her, he made his way to her in a slow beeline. But then when he got close enough, he just began to slow down. "…Yang…" Minato said slowly as she grinned, knowing what he was going to say. "What are you wearing?"

The blonde only grinned as she did a small flourish with her hands through her hair. "What Arcobaleno Apparel told me to. What do you think?" She explained and then asked in a teasing tone. "Look good on me?"

"Yes." Minato answered immediately after one second, needing the small bit of time to process the question.

Yang opened her mouth, but then closed it with a small pout. "That's it?" She asked in hurt mockery.

Feeling her arm grabbed, her leg was suddenly swept up as she began to fall backwards. But then Minato leaned forward and cupped the back of her head. With her hat falling off, it gave Minato enough room to place his forehead against hers. "Must I say more?" He asked. "Maybe do more?"

She froze at his words, staring at his grey eyes before nodding her head.

"Well too bad." He stated pulling her back up and grabbing her hat. "The fights are about to start soon." Dusting the accessory off, he handed it over to the blonde.

Yang opened her mouth, but then no words escaped her lips once more. "So mean." She grumbled playfully.

"You want me to play along, so I do. And then I just happen to end it." Minato simply responded in a dry tone. He then looked over towards Yang's side to see the Pyrrha was watching them curiously. "…Aren't you Pyrrha Nikos? The one who on the Mistral Tournament three times in a row?"

Yang blinked and looked over. "You know her?" She asked.

Minato just gave Yang a flat look. "I'm not surprised that you are not aware of that fact. Despite you knowing a few other things about the Mistral Tournament, you ignore many details all the same." He watched Yang about to retort but then there was an interruption.

[Could Minato Arisato and Crystal Chiaro please approach the arena?]

Looking up towards the speaker, Minato and Yang saw a girl with silver hair get up and begin walking out of the room. "Well, sounds like you're up." Yang stepped back while holding up her left fist. "Better not lose until you get to me."

Minato slowly eyed the limb Yang was extending. Lifting his own left fist, he bumped it with a nod of her head. He then began to follow Crystal as Yang got herself comfortable and stared at one of the screens.

 **Y13**

[Ladies and gentleman, welcome to another year of the Mistral Tournament!] An announced shouted into a microphone as crowds roared loudly. [I'm sure you all are tired of waiting so let's get the first round underway! On the left side we have a young man straight from Patch, Minato Arisato! Manners maketh man indeed! He looks like such a gentleman! But will he have the good-will to give up for his opponent? Or will he have to discipline them?!]

Minato only raised an eyebrow, wondering if Yang was laughing hard at that comment he just heard. Still, he rolled his neck while keeping his right hand in his pocket while waiting for his opponent to come out.

[And on the right side, here from home folks, is Crystal Chiaro! Gems are a girl's best friend, and that couldn't be any truer with her!] The girl across Minato only waved towards the crowds with a smile as she even blew kisses of all things. [Will she be able to outshine Minato? Or will her value simply fall?]

As Crystal began to stand in place, Minato saw that she was carrying a bow with several arrows inside of a quiver. Raising his left hand, he presented a blue bracelet. With some twitches of his fingers, the accessory began to expand. Soon enough, it covered his hand and forearm and changed into a gauntlet. At the bottom, there was a single barrel with a circular magazine to be with a small array of colors. The top seemed a little plain as well, but then there was a bump to make it stand out.

"Good luck trying to hit me!" Crystal called out to Minato as the crowd was still roaring in anticipation. "I can turn invisible!"

Minato just stared. "Wait," Minato said loud enough so that he could be heard while tilting his head in confusion." Did you say invincible or invisible?"

"…Invisible!" Crystal stated.

"… That makes things a lot easier." Minato said to himself. Patting himself down, he pulled out the pair of earphones that Yang had got for him for his first birthday party. About to hook them over his ears, he decided against it. He was going to make this fight quick.

[Are our fighters ready?!] The announcer asked, but then did not wait for an answer. [Begin!]

Minato's arm was a sudden blur as he snapped it in Crystal's direction towards her legs but then still stood in place. There was the cracking sound of a gunshot and the female found herself tripping over with an incredible amount of pain hitting her leg since she did not expect him to just shoot her immediately. She looked around her feet but then saw that there was no spread from Minato's shot at all and that it was a clean hit despite his distance away from her.

But as she stumbled around, Minato snapped his left arm once more towards her face. From the top of his gauntlets, a small base that had four claws connected shot out and rushed towards Crystal with small chain-links connected to the back. As soon as the claws grabbed her face, Minato yanked backward while the claws began to reel themselves back with their target.

Soon enough, Minato snatched Crystal's face himself as the claws released themselves and went back into the gauntlet. Gripping her skull tightly, he suddenly dropped her on her feet. But then he immediately raised his right foot and stomped onto Crystal's feet.

Keeping his foot locking her down, he watched her try to struggle to get away. But then when that failed, Crystal drew her bow and pulled an arrow back while aiming directly for Minato's face. But then he didn't flinch at all at the sight.

But then when she released the arrow, it didn't fly at all. In fact… she began to hear some heavy breathing… like a beast of sorts… and feel hot breath against her neck.

Slowly turning her head, she came face to skull with some kind of monster garbed in black. She couldn't exactly see much else since it was right up in her face. But soon, Crystal began to see more of it. Floating coffins around it, a massive sword strapped to its waist.

The reason why she would see more was due to it cocking its arm back for a punch.

Slowly looking forward, she saw Minato rearing his head backwards before slamming it against hers.

 **There! Thanatos is here again! Are you people happy?! Well, there we go. Yang got a new outfit. If you people are really wondering how she looks, just look at the cover for the story. Yeah. That's her outfit in a nutshell.**

 **And Minato has a sniper rifle gauntlets and grappling claws.**

 **The reasons why he uses sniper rifle gauntlets is that due to rifle recoil, people need two hands to usually keep themselves stable. Since I hopefully displayed how strong Minato could possibly be, a single arm of his is strong enough to both fire accurately and have no trouble with recoil.**

 **Also because Yang had shotgun gauntlets.**

 **No flames please.**


	16. Chapter 16

**I do not own the Persona series or RWBY. Everything belongs to their respective owners.**

[And the victor for this fight is Minato Arisato!]

Yang was not shocked but still winced a bit at Minato's brutal methods during the first match of the Mistral Tournament.

Turning her head towards the people ranging around her age to see their reactions, she did expect to see a few of them swallow at the sight. Minato after did just summon what could be described as some sort of weird monster that punched someone continuously while Minato simply slammed his head over and over against theirs. Not only that, but that monster looked like a humanoid-Grimm of sorts now that she had to think about it.

But that be thought about later or never again as she watched Minato simply walk out of the arena with his usual expression which was even.

"Well… that was… a sight to see…"

Pyrrha's comment was perhaps the one thought that everyone had going on through their heads. Yang nodded her head. "Yup." She stressed out the y of the word while popping the p. The blonde dropped herself down onto the couch that was behind her. "That's the reaction most people have when they first see Minato fight."

The red-head slowly looked over, surprise only building up due to Yang being rather nonchalant about the events that had just passed. "You know what that thing is?" Pyrrha questioned slowly.

"Yeah, kind of." Yang shrugged while nodding her head. "Though that's something you want to ask Minato if you do have any questions. Speaking of which." Yang suddenly got back up on her feet despite being on the couch as she walked towards the area where Minato was coming back from. "Yo, Minato, way to start off the Mistral Tournament."

Minato nodded his head. "Thanks." He answered simply.

"But, damn," Yang commented, deciding to use Minato's shoulder as an arm-rest for her right arm. "Already bringing out the big guns for that first fight? I at least expected to see the right side in action if that were the case." Her right elbow seemed to jab Minto's neck and cheek playfully as Minato led the two of them to the couch.

She also noticed the small amount of berth they were given.

Minato shrugged his shoulders. "Fear is a potent feeling. It can change their behavior and lead them to do anything in order to save themselves. Finishing the first round like that simply presents what I can do so future opponents would forfeit in order to avoid extreme measures." He stated as if it were a simple thing.

Yang just blinked, processing his words in her mind. "…In other words, you're just trying to scare them into giving up immediately against you." Minato nodded his head at her statement. She raised an eyebrow. "Should I ask why?"

Minato looked towards her. "Because you want to see your mom as soon as we can, correct?" He asked quietly but then his words were loud in the blonde's ears. "If so, then I'm finishing these fights as fast as I can using whatever I have."

Yang stared at Minato with surprise herself. But then she smiled. "Come on, man, you don't have to be like that." She said, putting some weight onto Minato so that she would lean on him. But with a bit of force, she pushed herself right off of him and watched the blue-haired male sway a bit. "While that's real considerate of you, you have to take some time to enjoy yourself as well! Relax! Have a bit of fun!" Raising a hand, Yang patted Minato back. "I've never seen her for 16 years. What's a few hours more?"

He was silent for a few seconds. "Not much I'll assume." He answered.

She only chuckled. "You got that right." She jabbed his side. "Now let's enjoy ourselves!"

 **Y13**

Yang didn't have much of a problem dealing with the competition. While the fighters were standard, she was able to take them down due to them not being able to figure out what or how Semblance worked. Minato pretty much managed to intimidate most of his opponents due to that first round. But then those that still faced him, he took in Yang's words and actually let the fights draw out a bit.

The two of them however had to agree that almost everyone else barely posed a challenge for Pyrrha Nikos. She was not hit even once at all but they thought it was not only because of her unique fighting style. Minato pointed out to Yang that the attacks that should have hit actually seemed to just barely miss.

[And that means Pyrrha Nikos gets to move into the finals!] The pair heard the announcer call out as the red-head helped the person she had beaten back to their feet before walked out of the arena for the next match. [That means there is only Minato Arisato vs Yang Xiao Long left before the final fight! Can we have both fighters come out to the arena?!]

Yang grinned in anticipation as she stood up and cracked her knuckles. "Alright, Minato, I've been waiting for this." She stated while walking away. "See you out there." She pointed before taking one exit towards the arena.

Minato took the other way. While walking down the path, he crossed paths with Pyrrha. But then she only wished him luck and he nodded in response. As he walked out into the open arena, he watched Yang walk right towards him at the same time.

Rolling his head around, he reached into his pockets to pull out his earphones and clipped them to his ears. Reaching up towards his chest, he felt around for the mp3 player that was hanging around the area before cycling through the music he had stored on it.

 **(** Play **Mick Gordon (feat. Omega Sparx) – I'm Back (to Rise))**

[Here we are folks! The battle between the cool Minato Arisato vs the hot Yang Xiao Long! The two of them fighters that use their fists! What a good time for a swell battle! A brawl between these two will surely brew!]

Minato just looked up towards the announcer box, still able to hear their words despite the music playing in his ears. To him, those were odd choices of words to use.

The two of them were still across from one another, just waiting for the signal to let them begin. Bouncing her stance back and forth, Yang jabbed the air in front of her towards Minato a few times before beckoning with both of her hands. Minato grabbed the top of his head, yanking it back and forth to pop his neck around before holding his hand out as if reaching lazily towards her.

[And begin!]

Minato walked forward towards Yang while she decided to run directly towards him. As Minato swung a left fist, Yang ducked right under the hook. About to counter such an attack, the blonde felt a knee embed itself against her side as Minato snuck it in. Raising her hands to try and defend herself, the blonde felt Minato tap her guard once before slamming his left fist into her stomach.

Yang however recovered quickly and step sided another one of Minato's swings. It only saved her for less than a second though as Minato only advanced on her. When he threw another left punches one after the other, Yang simply ducked and weaved around each and every single one. She eventually saw an opening, retaliating with some fine blows of her own.

Minato's eye twitched when he felt Yang punch his chest a few times. Just as Yang threw another punch, he slammed his left fist against her face at the same time. Watching the blonde stumble against the arena wall, Minato only advanced again in a small run.

Shaking her head, Yang looked up and was forced to put her guard up once again. This time, Minato kept on going for her head which was protected by her. After a few jabs, the blue-haired male reared his left fist back for a strong blow. But then that gave Yang the perfect opportunity to duck out and off of the wall just as he threw the punch.

When Yang managed to escape, Minato had embedded his left hand into the wall. Running over to Minato while leaping, Yang saw the male look at her before she slammed his head against the wall. Changing her footing on the spot, the blonde immediately began overwhelming the blue-haired boy with powerful fists while he just immobile on the spot with his face against the vertical surface.

Her moment lasted only a couple of seconds though as Minato tore his arm out of the wall and caused him to throw a wild haymaker. Yang managed to hop out of the way in time, and then she moved back again when Minato kicked in her general direction. Jumping into the air, Yang threw a fist right against Minato's face and knocked him down to the ground.

On the floor, Minato's left hand twitched and the grappling claw shot out. As the metal grabbed Yang's ankle, Minato got back up. Reeling the blonde in with his surprise move, he kicked her across the arena.

Getting back up onto her feet, Yang ran straight for Minato again. Minato charged her as well. When the two of them got close enough though, Yang still charged and headbutted Minato right against his stomach. Just as he was knocked off of his feet and away from her, Yang fired both of her gauntlets to propel herself forward. When she got close enough, she pointed her hands to the ground and released another shot in order to throw an uppercut.

But then Minato recovered fast enough and planted his feet onto the ground. Slamming his head down, he felt Yang's fist against his chin but then did his best to resist against the impact. Bringing up his right hand, it revealed another blue bracelet on his wrist before it transformed into a gauntlet that looked exactly like the left one.

Balling his right hand into a fist, he nailed Yang right against her stomach. But while she was sent flying back, she felt herself suddenly stop in midair. Looking down, Yang saw that there were the grappling claws clamping down right around her buckle before they pulled her back towards Minato. As soon as Yang was close enough, Minato had the claws release their grip and slip back into the gauntlet. But then that gave him the perfect opportunity to punch her stomach again before releasing a single shot from his gauntlet.

Yang growled as she felt the pain hit her stomach more than once in a row. Flying up into the air once more, she knew that Minato using his right hand meant that she was going to be able to dish it back twice as hard with her Semblance.

Firing her gauntlets, she began careening down towards the arena floor where Minato stood. With another shot, Yang flipped around and slammed both of her fists right on top of Minato's head. But rather than knocking him down, Yang felt the resistance Minato put up against her blow.

The two of them leapt away from each other. Yang's hair was on fire as she had taken more than enough hits from Minato and was ready to end it. Apparently, Minato had the same idea. As if it had appeared out of nowhere, that beast that Minato could summon rose up from behind the boy and growled menacingly.

The two of them then ran at each other. Propelling herself forward with her gauntlets once more, she managed to approach Minato faster and land a quick blow across his jaw. Raising her hands up to her face, she unloaded the shells around her gauntlet to partially blind the blue-haired male. Jumping up while positioning herself horizontally with feet facing forward, she ended up planting her feet right against the fist of the monster Minato brought out.

Reaching to the pack around her waist, she kicked off the beast while bringing out two strips of red shotgun shells. Slamming them both against her gauntlets, Yang fired a shot from each arm. The first one struck the summoned creature and exploded, causing such a beast to shake its head in anger. The other was meant for Minato, but then he raised his right hand just in time.

A black miasma consumed the hand and he caught the projectile without any kind of detonation. With a throwing motion, Minato sent the explosive round right back towards Yang. The blonde rolled out of the way and looked up. Having her body be grabbed by the monster, she saw its skull-head slam against her face before being thrown towards Minato positioned himself for an uppercut.

But as soon as he threw his right fist up, Yang grabbed it before it could hit her. Tugging the hand, she brought Minato with her and pulled him in close. Grabbing his head, she lifted it up a bit while still in the air. Minato however did the same thing to her, now having the both of them clutching each others' heads.

As the two of them landed, they slammed their opposing skulls against the floor.

 **(End Music)**

There was then a loud buzz.

[I… I can't believe it! A double K.O between Minato Arisato and Yang Xiao Long!] The announcer called out in surprise yet excitement at the same time. [I have never seen this before, ladies and gentlemen! This double whammy has been unheard of in the Mistral Tournament! There have been close calls, certainly! But nothing like this! I… I don't know who to say is the winner. Just give us a moment, and we will be right back.]

Yang groaned, feeling a fair amount of pain in her body. "Minato…" She said quietly, shifting her face up. "You awake?" Her question made her wince a bit.

"…Apparently." Minato replied dryly with his face still on the floor.

"Hehe- ow…" Yang snickered before flinching in a bit of pain. "Everything hurts." She sighed. Looking up, she saw the thing Minato summoned come up towards them. With what she thought was a huff of disbelief, Yang watched it reach down and pull the both of them up. Being dangled around for a few seconds, the two were dropped onto their feet but then had to use each other for support.

Standing in the middle of the arena, the two of them listened to the many calls of the crowds. Some chanted Minato's name while others called out Yang's. It seemed that the both of them were liked by the same amount. But then Minato looked to Yang after a couple of seconds. "…So are we just supposed to stand around and wait?" He asked.

Luckily, and all too quickly, the announcer was back. [After a small debate and view of the replay, both contenders did end up bringing each others Aura levels down to minimum amounts at the same time! So, it is a tie between the two fighters! But wait, I can hear you all asking, how will this work now?! This technically means that there are three fighters up for the spot for first place! Unfortunately, our two fighters do not have enough time to recover fast enough… So Pyrrha Nikos will take first place while Minato Arisato and Yang Xiao Long take second! As for Silver Mona, he will take the final spot of third place! Can we get everyone out into the arena?!]

Minato thought he would be the only one to give a weird look towards the announcer box, but apparently Yang was doing so as well. "…Are they even allowed to do that?" Yang pointed upwards to where they were staring at.

Hearing machinery behind them, the duo looked behind them to see a podium of sorts slowly beginning to rise up. But while that happened, Minato saw Pyrrha and Silver both come out from the opening that led to and from the arena. Watching the red-head take her spot up on the 1st spot, Minato blinked when Silver took up the 3rd area without complaint.

"You're okay with third?" He asked the silver-haired boy. "Even after a rather unfair judgement?"

The boy shrugged his shoulders. "If that's the call, then that's how I'll take it." Was his answer. "Besides, I wouldn't stand a chance against you or blondie if we were to fight for second place. Honestly, I'm shocked I managed to be placed in third."

Just eyeing the boy, Minato slowly helped Yang as she pulled him up towards the second-place spot. While everyone stood in their positions, there were now many cheers yet boos at the same time.

But soon a few adults approached the four of them. Among the small group Yang noticed Rouge while Minato saw Noir. One of the grown-ups stepped forward towards Silver. "Silver Mona, congratulations on achieving third place." They said while handing an envelope over and hanging a bronze medal around their neck.

Rouge and Noir meanwhile walked up towards Minato. "Nice job on getting' silver, sweetie. Even if it ain't the entire thing." Rouge smirked, holding up half of a silver medal. Probably to compensate the fact that there were two people in second place.

"A job well done to you as well, Mister Arisato." Noir commented, hanging the other half of the silver medal around Minato's neck. "As well as half of the prize money you would have won if you achieved second place." Noir gave an envelope to the blue-haired boy.

Yang looked a bit startled when Rouge also handed her a small paper package full of money. "Wait, there was prize money for this as well?" She asked. "I thought this was just a place to fight and show off your skills."

"Not many people would participate if that were the case." Minato only commented, still standing in place. Looking forward though, he noticed that there were cameras being set up.

"Alright, champs, just stay still and let us take a photo of this moment!" One of the photographers called out, still trying to set up their equipment. Just a few more seconds passed before they got behind the camera. "Smiles, everyone!"

Yang wrapped her arm around Minato's neck and pulled him in while the boy had a straight face but the corners of his mouth twitch upwards.

 **Y13**

"Great meeting you, Pyrrha. Even if we didn't really get much time to talk."

Yang made this comment as she, Pyrrha, and Minato all walked out of the area and towards the parking lot where the blonde had put her bike. "Thanks for the tips on getting me through the tournament."

"Oh, it's not trouble at all." Pyrrha smiled while waving her hands around. "It was nice meeting you two as well. I assume that you both are training to become hunters and huntresses as well?"

"Yup!" Yang nodded her head enthusiastically, throwing her arm around Minato and placing her weight against him. "He and I are planning to go to Beacon Academy in Vale! How about you? You planning to go into Mistral Academy?"

"Actually," The red-head replied back. "I was thinking about Beacon as well. They have some classes that Mistral does not that interest me and may be much better to learn."

Hearing those words, the blonde grinned. "Sounds awesome! Right, Minato?"

"A matter of opinion, but it sounds appropriate." Minato only nodded his head. As he said those words, they had approached Yang's bike. "Should we get going back to the hotel and pack up?"

Yang gave Minato a confused look. But then seconds passed as she began to realize why he had said that in the first place. "Ooh… right." She then looked back at Pyrrha. "Sorry, Pyrrha, but we've got to go right now. It was nice meeting you though!"

"Likewise." Minato answered while fitting his helmet on.

"It was a pleasure for me as well." The red-head saw Yang extend a hand as well before shaking it. "I look forward to seeing the both of you at Beacon."

"Same here." Yang grinned, putting on her biker helmet before sitting in front of Minato. While the blue-haired boy pulled out the map, the blonde looked up at Pyrrha. "Hope we get a match together when we do arrive at Beacon. See you later!"

Revving up her bike, tire squealed as Pyrrha waved farewell towards the two speeding away.

 **Not good, not bad, holy shit was this ugly.**

 **This chapter was supposed to come out earlier… like… last weekend earlier. But then the Dragon Ball FighterZ Beta took up a lot more time than I anticipated. As well as… just seeing Blazblue Cross Tag Battle make an extremely stupid decision for some reason killed my motivation to write this out for a bit for some reason. But after listening to a bit of music and schooling, I'm hopefully going to get back into the groove.**

 **Anyways… HAHAHAHAHA, SUCKERS! You thought there was going to be a fight between Pyrrha and one of our two main people for this story! But it was Minato vs Yang! Yes, reasoning was bullshit but I still managed to pull us through.**

 **So, next chapter. The two are finally going to see Yang's mom next chapter.**

 **PARTIAL SPOILERS FOR CANON RWBY.**

 **Now that it is actually confirmed that Raven is the Spring maiden… that seriously screwed up the plan I had in mind. We all thought that Vernal was Spring, but that was not the case. Was it?! BUT… I can work around it until a specific time comes. It's kind of amusing since in this story Yang is the Winter maiden.**

 **I cannot make Minato's weapon any simpler for you people. There is nothing really fancy about it. They're basically like Yang's gauntlets but blue, the barrel is on the bottom, has grappling claws, is semi-automatic, and fires sniper rounds.**

 **No flames please.**


	17. Chapter 17

**I do not own the Persona series or RWBY. Everything belongs to their respective owners.**

"…Aren't you a little young to be drinkin'?"

Yang had this question asked to her straightly after a moment of staring with the bartender. Her eyes were hidden behind a pair of shades. She had decided to ditch the helmet and goggles due to her actually taking a liking to the new look Rouge gave her back at the Mistral Tournament. If she wore the hat, then it would have been inconvenient to have to carry the items around. Minato pointed out that she could just wear the helmet whenever on her bike and the hat whenever she wanted, but then she assured him that she wouldn't end up in any bad accident.

Even so, she had Aura to take up most of the impact.

Taking off the sunglasses, she gave the bartender a look. "A water," She stated, putting them onto the countertop of the inside of the gas station she had pulled up next to. She felt like she needed a break from the constant driving. "It's hot out."

"Ohhh." The bartender nodded his head after, understanding her explanation. "Sure."

As the adult reached below the counter to grab what she wanted, Yang heard laughter coming from her right. "A-are you telling me you're too young to drink?" Looking over, she saw a man dressed up in a rugged fashion eyeing her in amusement. "You look like a regular huntress, and a beauty at that!"

Yang already had a feeling what this man was after. No, she already knew what this man was after. "I'm good. Thanks, pal." She answered curtly.

However, that didn't stop the man from getting up and walking over towards her. "Seriously," He continued on, getting closer and closer. "Not too bulky, not too lean, You're-"

"Just right." Yang rolled her eyes at the attempts she was a victim of. "Yup. Like I said, I'm good."

Once more, the man ignored her words. He chuckled and lifted a hand. "And your hair…"

While his limb reached over to try and stroke the part, Yang's hand snapped up and grabbed his wrist. She felt the struggle of the male, but then he couldn't fight out of her grip. Turning her head in his direction, her eyes turned red due to an extremely high level of irritation while staring flatly.

"…Huh?"

The male was only able to get that single gasp out as Yang immediately threw a right hook against the adult's face. The impact was strong enough to even knock a tooth out of the man's mouth. Careening through the building, it took less than a second for him to fly to the door. But rather than burst out into the outdoors, the metal barrier was halted due to slamming into someone's face.

Yang saw Minato's nose twitch in a second of discomfort when the door had hit him. Watching him breath in, he pushed against the door. But he only managed to get it open by a bit before the flaps were being blocked by the body just laying down on the floor.

With a slight more bit of effort, Minato shoved the body to the side a bit with enough room to poke his head in. "…" Staring at Yang, he then looked down to the other male. Snapping his gaze up, he had a slight frown. "…Should I be concerned?" He asked.

Yang shrugged. "Not really. Just didn't know what I meant when I said I'm good."

Minato blinked as he only shuffled the body to the side with his foot so that he could have more room to move in. With just enough space to fit his body in, he slipped into the building. Taking a final look at the body, Minato pivoted on his feet and booted the body outside with a decent amount of force. Turning around, he saw Yang with an amused expression. "…What?"

"Nothing." Yang smirked, stressing out the g in the word in a playful manner.

Minato walked over to the blonde's right side. "The tank is filled up, so ready whenever you are." He let Yang know as he leaned against the counter.

Yang nodded her head. She then felt contact on her right side and looked down. Her eyes came onto the side of Minato grasping her right hand. Looking up, she saw Minato's head turned in her direction and it made her smile. Despite his blank looks, she pretty much always knew what was on his mind. "Really, everything is fine." She punched his shoulder playfully, but then there was quite a hard impact.

The two of them looked forward and saw that the bartender was holding a bottle of water for Yang with a bit of an awkward expression on his face. "And one water for you." The bartender placed the bottle down for her. "On the house. That man was drivin' me crazy. What about you, young man? Anything I can get you?"

"Water was well if you don't mind." Minato requested as Yang popped the lid off of her bottle.

The bartender nodded as Yang managed to put about the entire neck of the bottle into her mouth and chugged the liquid. "So, what brings the two of you 'round these parts?" The bartender asked as he placed some water down for Minato as the blue-haired boy handed him some Lien.

Yang already finished and let out a refreshed breath. "Us?" She asked while placing the bottle down onto the counter. "I'm, uh… looking for someone. He's just making sure I don't do anything rash." She gestured to Minato as he had unscrewed the cap and took a sip.

The bartender let out a short laugh. "Having a friend around these parts might be good. Not many people come out here after all. Too far from the Kingdoms. Only person worth notin' 'round here is…" He casual tone took a small pause, as if he were realizing what he was going to say. "Er-well… Ra-"

"Raven Branwen." Yang stated, completing the sentence for the man. It was as if that word were taboo since it ended up silencing the man. "Thanks for the water." She nodded her head, grabbing her shades as she began to walk towards the door. "Come on, Minato."

As the blonde began to leave, the bartender snapped out of his temporary moment of stupor as he moved along the counter in a bit of a panicked fashion. "Now-now missy, you don't wanna go messin' with bandits! They're a world of trouble!"

"So I hear." Yang only answered.

Listening to what Yang said, the bartender look over to Minato who was now quickly downing his water due to having to leave now. "Sir, you gotta talk her outta this! You're here to make sure she doesn't do anythin' rash, right?!"

"That all depends on the situation." Minato only answered as he put his bottle down and trailed after Yang. "And so far, I don't see her doing anything like that."

 **Break**

Riding through the woods, Minato looked at the map through his helmet.

Although the wind was shaking the paper in his hands, he kept a tight grip on their navigation tool while Yang kept her speed pretty high. But then the blonde looked behind her towards the blue-haired boy who was sitting on the motorcycle without any need to hold himself onto the vehicle. "How much further?" She called over the engine.

Minato hummed as he looked around their surroundings. It was nothing but trees, grass, rocks, and dirt. However, he nodded his head. "It should be around here, according to Qrow." He answered just loud enough for Yang to hear.

Pulling into an opening, Yang slowed down until coming to a complete stop. Getting off of her bike, Minato slid off as well while she stretched her arms. "Ahh…" She sighed, arching her back while bringing her arms up. "That was a bit longer than I thought."

"At least we know where we should be." Minato stated, his voice being a bit muffled while he tried to take his helmet off. Yanking the head-protection off, he shook his skull around popped his neck a couple of times. "Unlike that time in Vale."

"It was only one time." Yang rolled her eyes with amusement.

"It was only one trip." Minato simply corrected for her. "And you also got us lost on purpose."

She held her arms up. "Guilty." She admitted before wrapping her arms around his neck and putting her weight onto him. "But where's the fun in not being lost?"

"Hidden away, only coming up for those rare occasions." Minato deadpanned, shaking his head. Raising his left hand, he grasped Yang's arm gently while looking up towards the sky.

It was only for a few seconds, but the two of them learned that so much could be done in such an amount of time. So the two of them just stood in silence, appreciating the amount of nature that surrounded them. The air was… a lot fresher where they stood rather than back at home. Maybe because this was a completely different continent they were in at the moment.

"…Should we see your mom now?" Minato asked, breaking the silence between them.

Blinking, Yang realized what they had been doing in frozen silence before pushing herself off. "…Yeah," She said with a small smile. "Let's get going. You know which way?"

Minato nodded his head, knowing that this was going to be big for Yang. Pointing in the direction, he made his way back to the motorcycle as Yang started walking. Grabbing the frame, he started wheeling the vehicle behind the blonde.

It only took them a couple of minutes, but then they saw it. A man-made gate with tree trunks standing up to form the barrier. Although there were massive, crude planks of wood to make the part that would open light enough to pull up. A couple of people were also stationed in front of it, armed with normal weapons and nothing fancy at all. That was more than enough to confirm that they had found the place.

Continuing forward, the two that were assigned guards eventually noticed the duo approaching them. One of them held a cleaver while the other was equipped with an assault rifle. "You both picked a bad time to get lost." The cleaver-person said, stepping towards them.

But Yang and Minato stayed silent. The blue-haired boy however kept an eye on Yang, not exactly saying anything until he thought he should. Just as the man was a few feet away from them, she finally spoke. "Is Raven Branwen here?" She asked.

Those words stopped the man in his tracks. Narrowing his eyes, he raised his cleaver even higher while the female raised her gun up and aimed down the sights. "No one with that name lives here." The cleaver-man answered.

"Even for her daughter?"

Now that made the two bandits hesitate. Eyeing each other, the adults looked back to the duo. "If you do end up hurting the daughter of your leader, I wonder how she would react to such news." Minato stated from the side, keeping his left hand on the motorcycle and the right to his side. But rather than his thumb preventing his entire right hand from being in his pocket, it was the other four fingers while the thumb was tucked inside.

After some consideration, the one with the cleaver seemed to wave at the one with the gun who signalled elsewhere. The gate soon began to slowly open up but the adults started to move in. "If you're lying, then don't even think about seeing the outside world again." The man threatened before walking towards the gate.

Yang followed as well as Minato. But the blonde turned over to look at the boy. "Did you actually threaten someone?" She asked in a small moment of disbelief. "I think that's a complete first for you."

"There are many firsts for me when it comes down to you." Minato answered smoothly, gesturing with his chin that she should be focused on what was ahead rather than behind her. But as she turned her head, he had to say it. "You're nervous."

Yang sighed. "Yeah, a bit." She admitted. "I mean… I kind of already have an idea of what I want to say to her. But I'm just not sure if I'm ready to hear her answer."

"We can only wait and see." Minato stated.

Still walking, they were getting closer to the end of the camp. Surrounding them were tons of tents. Also people… lots of people. News of people being allowed into their camp must have spread like wildfire as it seemed almost everyone who lived in the area was looking at them with surprise.

Finally, they arrived in front of some sort of tent that was larger than the others. Judging by how it was at the end of the camp and how it looked, Yang and Minato silently assumed that the tent belonged to Raven.

Through the flaps, a head poked out and stared at the duo with narrowed eyes. Stepping out, a young woman with tan-colored skin showed herself. She had a tattoo of a bird rising from flowers on her left arm. She wore a brown vest over a torn white shirt, with a collar that appeared to spike up behind her neck. She wore maroon-colored pants with the right side rolled up to her thigh. She also wore dark brown knee guards that go down to her brown boots.

"…So, you're the reasons there was a commotion in the camp." The female stated, folding her arms with a bit of a moody gesture.

"Vernal, there's no need to be so rude to our guests."

The voice was even, but it was as if it had echoed through the camp. The girl, now known as Vernal, looked behind her before stepping off to the side. Another female soon emerged from the tent.

She wore a shallow cut black and red dress with five necklaces. The female had on a red girdle-belt and a matching pair of gauntlets. An object that looked to be made from feathers hung from the right side of her skirt. She also wore detached black leggings that were covered by black boots that had red high heels and soles. Their face however was covered in a mask that completely hid their features.

Reaching up, the female took off the mask though to reveal that she looked fairly similar to Yang. Her hair however was more ravenous and black with red highlights. Red eyes seemed to pierce through the duo and the color complimented her hair loosely done up in a ponytail, tied by a red shawl.

"…Mom…" Yang greeted.

"…Yang." If Raven was surprised, she certainly hid it well. "So, after all this time, you finally decided to visit me." She slowly turned her head to Minato. "With some company too, I might add."

"His name is Minato," Yang corrected her mom. "And you know that I searched for you. I spent years looking for you. Also, you never even came back so what choice did I have?"

"And you've found me." Raven answered as if it were simple, a not-too-pleased look growing on Yang's face due to this. "You were patient, determined, and strong enough to make your dream a reality." A bit of a proud look grew on the mom's face. "Well done, Yang." The blonde only folded her arms in response. "I'm sure this is all very overwhelming. But I must admit you've proven yourself by finding me. So any questions you have I'll be happy to answer."

Yang folded her arms. Her mother was acting as if this were a completely casual visit. After sixteen years of no contact whatsoever, this is what it was like? There was… nothing at all? Rather than overwhelming, as Raven said, Yang felt like this was actually… underwhelming.

Minato noticed the action. Nonchalantly, he setup the kickstand and let the motorcycle stay where it was. Shuffling over to Yang, he subtly wrapped his arm around Yang's.

Raven saw this. "It is getting late, so the two of you can stay with us tonight. I'll even have the cooks whip up something for you and your…" She trailed off, her gaze going towards the link that Yang and Minato shared. "…Companion."

"Boyfriend." Yang stated. Out of the corner of her eye though, she saw Minato's head turning towards the back of the camp; the area which they entered from. "What's up?"

Minato was frowning as he cocked his ear up. "…Do you hear that?" He asked.

Yang frowned as well as she began to listen as well. The entire camp was quiet at first but now they became dead silent. Minato's words seemed to be heavy as all of them were paying attention. Raven narrowed her eyes.

The sounds of blades clashing and a mad-man laughing were heard nearby.

 **Yeah, not the greatest chapter. Just pretty much most of it being a copy and paste from the episodes. Didn't get anywhere but I hope that I will later. There should be original content in the next few chapters so please bear with this chapter until then.**

 **No flames please.**


	18. Chapter 18

**I do not own the Persona series or RWBY. Everything belongs to their respective owners.**

Craning his head, Minato saw that he was not the only one who noticed the noises coming from the entrance of the bandit camp they were in at the moment.

Everyone that had been spectating their meeting also was looking in the general direction, each of them slowly bringing up their weapons as if they knew what was to come. Raven and Vernal both frowned. Yang meanwhile had a confusing look on her face. "What's going on?"

"Something not good from what I can tell." Minato only commented, tilting his head once more to listen better.

Raven's gaze swept around the camp as all of the other bandits had their weapons up, ready to fight. "Everyone, pack your essentials and weapons!" She ordered loudly, stepping down from her positioning while grabbing her mask. She started to put the accessory on and continued to walk towards the entrance of the camp. "Once you do, rendezvous at the safe camp! Vernal and I shall make sure you all try and manage to get there safely! Take my daughter and her companion with you as well!"

Yang saw that all of the bandits did as they were told. Looking around her, she almost felt herself lost despite just standing in place. But soon her eyes fell upon a familiar figure with black hair among the crowd and broke into a run towards her. However, Vernal grabbed the back of her jacket.

"And just where do you think you're going?" The girl asked, almost looking annoyed that the blonde was even trying to do something. "You heard Raven. You're going with the others and getting out of here."

"Oh, come on!" Yang exclaimed, swiftly turning around and slapping the hand off. "What does she know about me anyways?! I'm been training to become a huntress for a couple of years, so I can at least take the opportunity to try out practical work here and now! I'm not just some sort of girl that's sat on her ass for her entire life!"

"Yang!" Raven roared back, seeming to have heard each and every one of the blonde's words. She took large strides towards her daughter and grabbed her by the collar. "This is not a game! This is an actual situation where you could die!"

"I'm well aware of that!" Yang glared, her eyes lighting up with red. "But I'll play it safe! If things to get too hot, I'll just back off and run where everyone else is heading! I can help you!"

"Did you not understand a word that I said?!" Raven exclaimed.

"I understood everything!" Yang retorted. "But I still can help! It's just one guy from the sound of it, and you need as much support as you can!"

"I am your mother, young lady!" Raven stated. "You will do as I say!"

"You abandoned me, our family for sixteen years!" Yang replied with equal force. "And now you're concerned for me?!"

Gritting her teeth at that one remark, Raven raised her right hand and swiped it towards Yang. However, Minato managed to surprisingly come from the side and grab Raven's wrist before she could slap Yang. The black-haired female's head snapped over towards Minato in a flare of anger.

His face on a bit of a darker tone as his eyes were half open. He was not smiling at all, as usual, but his lips were curved down just by the slightest. With her wrist in his right hand, he glanced over to his limb to see Raven struggling. He only tightened his grip while tensing his arm so that her efforts would be completely futile.

"I'll make sure Yang doesn't get too far ahead of herself." Minato said slowly, his quiet voice almost being deafening to Raven's ears. "Now, I believe that you had something to do. So why don't we go do that instead of arguing?"

Raven took deep breaths in and out, her gaze switch between Minato and Yang over and over again. With a final huff, Raven was free from Minato when he let go of her wrist. Looking around, she saw that everyone else was almost done packing. "Vernal, we need to start now." She stated before the two bandits ran towards the entrance.

Minato however didn't move from his spot. Looking towards Yang, the girl was still panting angrily. A growl escaped her lips with fists balled up tightly. Grabbing her head with both of his hands, Minato pressed his forehead against Yang's. "Yang, deep breaths." He stated, not letting go as he could feel her breath against his skin.

Closing his eyes, he steadied his breathing. In… Out… In… Out… The pattern was almost hypnotic to him. Soon though, the effects spread towards Yang as he heard her begin to synchronize her breathing with his. A couple more seconds passed and he embraced her. "It's okay, Yang." Minato said quietly "Maybe there was something that prevented her from coming back home? She could be very concerned about her family in the end."

"…Maybe." Yang mumbled before sighing. "I… don't really know why I just wanted in that fight all of a sudden anyways. The idea… it just went up in my mind."

The two remained silent for a moment. "…Do you still want to have a go at them anyways?"

Yang snorted at Minato's question. "Yeah, sure, why not?" She laughed at bit, stepping back with a grin. "And it's like you said. If things get too hot for me-"

"You're just trying to make this sentence an innuendo, aren't you?"

"You got me there."

Minato stared at Yang's face that didn't even sport an ounce of shame. In fact, it looked more like she relished in the look she was getting from him. "So we going to do this or what?" She asked, holding out her right fist.

A smirk was worn on her face at the same time as she nodded to the outstretched limb. Lifting his left arm, he pounded the fist with his own. As their fingers pushed forcefully against one another, the two hopped away from each other before rushing towards the battle.

As they ran, it only took them a couple of seconds to arrive to the scene. If they could describe the fight they had come upon with just one word, it would be fast. Back and forth, left and right, two figures would be rushing from one place to the next. Raven was recognized among the two, which made the duo wonder where the other girl was.

But the one Raven was fighting was chuckling manically, which led Minato and Yang to suspect they were the one who started this to begin with. They were male with gold eyes and a brown onytail braided to resemble a scorpion's tail. He wore a white sleeveless jacket with leather belts strapped to it, along with white pants. His jacket was left wide open, exposing his bare chest, which was criss-crossed with prominent scars. His arms were covered with purple bandages and leather vambraces. He also wore leather boots covering his entire shins with knee guards.

"Hah!" The man suddenly shouted, lunging forward in a predator-manner. Diving forward, he soared forward a bit. Raven, however, dodged his attack with ease. As the black-haired female attempted to punish the attack, she paused for a second. Looking down, she saw that a scorpion tail had wrapped itself around her leg before she was suddenly yanked off of her feet.

Yang and Minato watched as the male revealed himself to be a scorpion-Faunus since such a rather disturbing limb was connected right to his backside. But the blonde began to run when she saw that her mother was at a disadvantage. "Mom!" She yelled, extending both of her gauntlets to their full length before releasing a shot from the both of them to fire herself forward at an incredible speed.

Just about to run after her, Minato found himself pausing for a single second. If Raven was fighting the scorpion-Faunus, where was that other girl? Vernal, if he remembered correctly.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw something flying towards him as he raised his left hand to catch it. Looking to his left, he saw that he had actually managed to catch the exact person he was thinking about a couple of seconds ago. Unconscious, but thankfully alive. With that question answered, another one grew. What had caused Vernal to careen towards him?

As Minato moved his hand down, he immediately understood what happened as a massive fist swung towards his fist.

Landing a blow against the Faunus' face, the blonde flipped around before landing on her feet and taking on a fighting stance. But it seemed that Raven was not very pleased at her daughter's presence by the look on her face. Yet when she stared at the blonde's lilac eyes, Raven found herself hesitating a bit before getting back up to her feet. "You are really stubborn, you know that?"

"I get that from you." Yang commented without even looking towards Raven.

Hearing the sound of impact nearby, Yang snapped her head around and saw Minato's body fly a bit before it skidded on the ground. A partially deep trench was formed due to the body as Minato sat up with Vernal right on top of him.

The blonde winced, having a feeling that hurt a lot more than it looked. Minato may be tough and be able to take hits like a tank, but he still could feel pain. "You okay?" Yang asked, turning her head back towards the direction of the Faunus who seemed to have his head tilted while having a curious look on his face.

"Maybe." Minato grunted, getting up after gently pushing Vernal off of him. "Bad news." He added, smacking the dirt off of his clothing. "I believe there is another one here that hits as hard as you."

With a bit of a surprised expression, Yang turned her head and saw another male in the direction which Minato came from. A tall muscular, middle-aged man slowly walked towards them as he only rubbed his wrists. He had short, brown hair, a beard and hazel eyes. He wore a two-tone olive green coat over a black sleeve shirt, and a large belt. His pants were black with a pouch strapped to each pant's leg, and his boots were brown with white fronts.

"Oh my," The scorpion-Faunus seemed to gasp mockingly, his hand even placed against his chin in an eccentric moment. "Someone got up after you hit them, Hazel." He then grinned. "Are you sure you're not slacking off?"

"You know why we came here in the first place, Tyrian." The man, referred to as Hazel, seemed to grunt in response. "We want to make sure the Spring Maiden is still alive when we capture her."

"But of course!" The other male, known as Tyrian, gestured airily. "I would never forget what has been assigned to us."

Yang looked between the two of them in a look of confusion. "…Spring Maiden?" She asked out loud. She eyed Minato, but the boy shrugged his shoulders. He was in the unknown as she was.

Raven however did not seem to like Yang or Minato heard those words. "You mentioned the Spring Maiden." There was a small pause of distaste. "So… it seems that Salem has managed to track her down." She did not seem pleased. "And two of her lackeys were sent. A psychopath and a silent, strong-head. I perhaps should feel honored that so much effort is being used when it comes down to me."

"Oh, you know, we're just motivated by the fact that we already have one Maiden." Tyrian placed his hands to his back while looking rather proud of himself, rubbing the bottom of his nose. He then noticed Raven shift over Vernal in a guarding manner. "And soon, we'll bring that number to two!" He flashed a manic grin.

"We only want the Spring Maiden, Raven Branwen." Hazel stepped closer, but then had his hands raised in a peaceful manner. "We are not after you or your tribe." He stopped for a second to make sure his words were registered. "Just give us the girl, and we will leave you alone."

"How about no?"

Yang cracked her knuckles protectively, standing right on top of the unconscious Vernal. Raven snapped her head over to her daughter and glared. "Yang, stay out of this!" Raven hissed. "You don't know who these people and how dangerous they are!"

The blonde however stood her ground. "You're right, I don't." She admitted, but there was no hesitation in her tone. "There are tons things I don't know. But you're going to need all the help you can get right now." Her eyes narrowed. "And I'm not taking no for an answer."

Raven glanced at Yang. "And why would say that?"

Yang didn't look at Raven. "I have my reason."

The black-haired female rolled her eyes, but then didn't say anything else. Instead, she slid her stand down to make sure she was keeping an eye on both Tyrian and Hazel at the same time.

"Yo, Minato," Yang voiced out, holding her left hand out. "Hit me up."

The blue-haired male glanced at Yang. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his left earphone and handed it over to the blonde. While Yang put it on, Minato fished out the other one and placed it against his right ear. While doing all of that, he fiddled around with his mp3 played until he found a piece of music he was content with.

 **(** Play **DRAGON BALL FIGHTERZ – Main Theme [EPIC METAL COVER] (Little V))**

Yang cracked her knuckles while Minato yanked his head around to crack his neck. Sliding down into their own positions to fight, Tyrian watched and sighed. "Of course, it's the hard way. It's always the hard way!" He seemed to whine, but then grinned like a predator. "Just how I like it."

Hazel chose not to say anything, instead thundering down towards the trio that still stood. Minato remained in his spot, this time ready for an incoming hit. Hazel raised his fist and embedded it right against Minato's cheek. The blue-haired boy almost felt himself go off his feet once more but made sure that he stayed grounded. Pushing right against the fist, Minato slammed his left hand against Hazels' face in turn. The man didn't seem affected by the punch though as he grabbed Minato's fist and threw him.

However, Minato's left gauntlet had shot out the grappling claws while grabbed Hazel's arm. Before the adult knew what had happened, he was dragged away with Minato.

While that happened, Yang punched the air towards Tyrian. Their surroundings began to fill with gunfire as Yang fired shot after shot. Raven took a similar approach, repeatedly swinging a red blade which caused waves of fire to fly forward. Each projectile flew, but then Tyrian was fast as he only dashed around each one and ended up in front of Yang.

As the Faunus swung his arm around, Yang put of her guard when she saw that he had a pair of bladed gauntlets with two gun-barrels at the top of his wrists. Continuing to block, the blonde distracted the male this way as Raven came up from behind to try and attack. The scorpion tail however almost seemed to have a mind of its own as it smacked the incoming sword off target. At the same time though, Yang threw both of her arms out. It made Tyrian hop away, but the Faunus only rushed forward once more.

Laughing as if he were enjoying it, Tyrian slid under a punch Yang threw. He would have managed to stab her in the back if Raven hadn't intervened with a block. Hopping into the air, Tyrian used Raven's blade as support to vault himself forward in a roll. His body however was launched into the air as he pushed himself off of Yang's head. The trip was short though as Tyrian wrapped his tail around the blonde's arm. Pulling upwards, he prevented himself from flying while spinning Yang around in the air before slamming her onto the ground.

Pivoting quickly, he lunged forward to stab the blonde, but then Raven kicked the man away and ran after him. Getting back on his feet, he charged forward once more, locking both of his arms right against Raven's blade. As Raven glared behind her mask, Tyrian seemed to look curious before smirking in return.

Hearing the click of a gun, Raven eyed the firearm part of Tyrian's weapon as quickly hopped back. But the scorpion-Faunus proved to be relentless as he became a tornado of slashes, stings, and shooting. The adult-female almost had no choice but to block each and every single method of attack he used.

Hearing the sound of two shots though, not even a second passed as Yang came flying in from close to the ground. Rolling on the ground, she pushed off of the dirt with another pair of shots in an attempt of a two-footed uppercut. However, Tyrian stopped himself just in time as Yang flipped in the air and onto her feet.

With Minato meanwhile, Hazel had just wrapped his arms around the blue-haired boy and started to crush the teenager. Limply dropping his head, Minato suddenly snapped it up and slammed Hazels' face. It was enough force to make Hazel loosen his grip a bit with surprise, and enough time for Minato to raise his left arm and elbow the adult's stomach.

Throwing his left arm forward for a punch, Minato blinked when he saw Hazel catch his fist. His eye twitched when the limb was twisted before being thrown in the direction of Yang and Raven. As he flew right past them, Tyrian wrapped his tail around Minato's neck and slammed the boy onto the ground.

The scorpion-Faunus twisted his body in an attempt to pierce Minato's body with his weapons. But Minato grabbed both arms with his hands before shoving the man away with his foot.

Raven rushed right past Minato and began to engage Tyrian. Looking to his side, Minato saw that Yang had been approached by Hazel. The blonde had tried to kick the man's chest, but Hazel blocked her foot with his arm before pushing back with ease. Just as Yang landed on her feet though, she was punched square in the face.

Minato shot out one of his grappling claws and it latched right against Hazel's arm. With a yanking motion, he forced Hazel to engage him rather than Yang. As he spun around, Minato placed his hands onto the ground and pivoted on them in order to use his feet to deflect a couple of punches. Balling his hands into fists, Minato grabbed some dirt. Getting back to his feet, he threw the substance right in Hazel's face before Yang rushed in to land a punch against the adult.

Hazel shook his head, seeming to growl a bit as both Yang and Minato approached him. Yang ran forward, throwing a fist with a good amount of strength. But Hazel seemed to block it fine as he grabbed the blonde's throat before slamming her against the trunk of a tree.

Minato threw a sucker punch right against Hazel's back, the force causing the man to release his grip on the blonde. Grabbing the back of Hazel's clothing, Minato threw the adult over his shoulder and against the ground. Feeling a leg wrap around his own, Minato was pulled off of his feet. Just as he felt his body hit the ground, his foot was grabbed. Just as he realized what was going to happen, Hazel swung him like a bat and smashed him against Yang.

Knocking the blonde away, Hazel flipped Minato and snatched his face. Craning his arm back, he slammed Minato's head against the ground. Rearing the limb, Hazel repeated his action. Over and over again, Hazel kept at it as he only started forming a bigger crater with each impact.

Yang shook her head, groaning at the amount of pain she was feeling at the moment. Hissing, she slowly got up, rubbing her sides. Stumbling around a bit, Yang slapped her hands on both of her cheeks to snap herself out of her daze. Eyeing her surroundings, she saw that Raven was still dealing with Tyrian. Her mom was holding up evenly against the scorpion-Faunus. In her opinion, they were cutting it close against each other.

Minato and Hazel on the other hand… Yang nearly froze at the limp reaction Minato was giving as Hazel only continued slamming the boy against the dirt. Watching only for a single second made her blood boil. Her hands gripped into fists, so hard that it actually hurt. Narrowed eyes revealed an angry red to replace her beautiful lilac. Her hair suddenly was on fire.

A white Aura immediately formed around her eyes.

"GET YOUR FUCKING HANDS OFF OF HIM, ASSHOLE!"

Roaring, Yang raised her foot. A block of ice formed in mid-air, just below her knee as she kicked the chunk right towards Hazel. The kick shattered the ice, but that only created shards like pellets that bombarded Hazel. The amount of force that hit Hazel was strong enough to drop Minato in surprise in order to block the shards. While Hazel was being pushed away with each hit, Yang started to run.

But she soon began to pick up speed as the ground beneath her started to ice up and she skated on the frozen surface. Skidding, Yang stopped in front of Minato and picked him up. At the same time though, Hazel leapt through the air with his fist reared. But by the time he had slammed his fist onto the two of them, he ended up shattered ice that was shaped like them.

Looking around, Hazel soon saw that Yang was setting Minato down against the trunk of a tree gently. "Take it easy, Minato." She whispered quietly into the boy's ear. But just as Yang turned to face Hazel, Tyrian came flying through the air and landed on the ground with ease. At the same time, Raven came rushing towards Yang's side.

Yang saw that her mom was staring at her from behind her mask. But the stare was much more intense than she expected. "…No…" Raven growled, the sound of teeth gritting coming from her mouth, yet it was not seen. "No, no, no!"

"…What?" Yang asked, narrowing her eyes at her mom. "What's wrong now?"

"You have no idea how much trouble you are in now, Yang." Raven shook her head while looking towards Tyrian and Hazel, the latter two seeming to look fine despite the scuffle that had occurred. "You don't even have any idea what kind of power you have and yet… you just showed it off like it was nothing!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Yang questioned a raised eyebrow. "You're not making any sense at the moment! And what the hell was I supposed to do?! Just let Minato be beaten around like a rag-doll?!"

Meanwhile, Tyrian raised an eyebrow as it looked like he was thinking. After a bit, he began to giggle. "Ohohohohoho, not only do we have the Spring Maiden here," He eyed the blonde with a sick joy. "But now it looks like the Winter Maiden is here too! Oh, this day cannot get any better!"

Hazel however shook his head. "It's a shame, really." He sighed to himself, eyeing the unconscious Vernal who was still lying in the middle of the area they were all in. "They both are rather young. But… that is a fault that will only add onto Ozpin's shoulders." His words were only meant for him and Tyrian.

As Hazel cracked his knuckles, the female duo took on their battle stances. Raven let out a frustrated sound. "…Yang, grab your companion and get away from here as fast as you can. You just painted a massive target on your back."

The blonde looked over at her mom with a confused look.

"Now!" Raven exclaimed, rushing towards Tyrian and Hazel who charged at her at the same time.

Yang hesitated a bit at first. To be honest, things were going too fast for her. Too fast that she didn't really have any time to stop and truly think about it or react properly. Stunned, she shook her head before rushing over to grab Minato.

As Raven swung her blade, Tyrian ducked right under it and still rushed towards Yang and Minato. Raven tried to turn around to stop the scorpion-Faunus, but Hazel interfered by smacking the tip of her sword to the ground. Raven used the grounded weapon though to vault herself up and kick Hazel straight in the face.

As soon as Yang grabbed Minato, she turned around the dropped the boy. She didn't want to originally, but the Tyrian had approached her quickly. The scorpion-Faunus leapt into the air, pouncing towards her. Extending her fist to punch, Yang missed as Tyrian continued to go past the top of her head but wrapped his tail around her arm. Yanking forward, she heard the Faunus release a surprised sound before he landed in front of her.

But when Yang kicked, Tyrian pulled his tail and bit and cause the blonde to go off balance a bit and fall. Before she actually went off her feet though, she had created a patch of ice before her wobble. With the slippery surface, Yang had almost landed a flip-kick right against Tyrian's chin.

Tyrian leaned back to dodge the tips of Yang's two boots. When his back was arched, he supported his body with his tail and used both of his own feet to kick Yang away. Rushing forward after the blonde, he grabbed Yang by her jacket before flipping around a few times and suplexing her against the ground.

Yang released two gunshots from her gauntlets to launch herself off of the ground and get back to her feet. Stomping on the ground, Yang formed a wall of ice between her and Tyrian just when the scorpion-Faunus tried to charge at her. Punching through her own created, she didn't land a blow due to Tyrian dodging out of the way.

Entering hand to hand, Yang's attacks were only blocked. However, each blow applied ice to the struck part. When Tyrian hand hit Yang with the tip of his blades while trying to shoot her, nothing came out and there was no cut on the blonde. Looking at his weapons, he saw that the blades were solidified in ice while the barrel was jammed in the element at the same time.

But rather than disappointment, Tyrian just grinned. With a sucker punch, Tyrian punched Yang straight against her face. But then he didn't stop. He was just an onslaught of punches, his iced weapons not even handicapping him. Yang attempted to fight back, but then Tyrian was faster than she expected. Unable to land blows, she was just making her self more tired with each fist thrown.

Poising for a final blow, Tyrian's stinger started to dive towards Yang.

A white gloved hand then grabbed the back of his clothing.

Tyrian slowly turned around and came face to face with a creature with a skull-like helmet. It didn't seem to have any eyes whatsoever, the darkness of the sockets really just being a part of its pitch-black appearance. Chains rattled menacingly. Growls of a mad dog panted out of the being's mouth that didn't exist.

It then roared so loudly, everyone covered their ears at the sheer volume it could generate. Just around its feet, grass shriveled and died. Leaves withered and died. Tree trunks shriveled up. A black miasma poured off of its body like foul smoke coming from a cigar.

Even Hazel and Raven stared at the massive creature, shocked and surprised to see that something like that even existed. Yang turned her head to Minato though, knowing that he was the cause of its appearance.

He approached slowly, his eyes seen but were only half-open. His head was lazily tilted to the side, as if judging what he was seeing. Minato's breath was steady, but it just made his presence a bit more intimidating that usual.

Tyrian however had his lips curled downwards in thought as he stared at the monster. His eyes then looked over towards the approaching Minato. Back and forth, he looked between the two. Kicking off of the construct's body, Tyrian dashed towards Minato with his arms raised. As they snapped forward, Minato grabbed the hands and prevented even being hit by the scorpion-Faunus.

But rather than struggle, Tyrian still stared at Minato. "Hmm…" The adult tilted his head. "Hmm?" He made it go in the other direction. "Hm… Huh… Hoo… Hnn…" One expression morphed into another, a myriad of emotions being shown as if it were a movie.

Minato felt the corners of his lips go down by a fraction. "What?" He couldn't help but ask.

Tyrian only grinned. "Why, if it isn't Mini-Mini!"

 **(End Music)**

 **Finally, got that out of the way.**

 **Personally… I think I did decent for this chapter. Yes, OOC moment around the chapter were there. But I like how this turned out… in a way. If you guys didn't like Yang revealing herself to be the Winter Maiden too early, too bad.**

 **Also, that last part of the reveal… Take that you people who thought that Minato was really a Schnee. Though there was one major clue to show that he was not a Schnee. From what I recall/can tell, there was always a glyph when Weiss or Winter used their Semblances. Whenever Minato summoned Thanatos, there was nothing like that whatsoever.**

 **No flames please.**


	19. Chapter 19

**This is a fanfic. BUY THE FUCKING MERCHANDISE!**

"… What… did you call me?"

Minato's question came out slowly. It was almost as if he were the one of higher power, his tone almost giving out a non-verbal warning. His eyes narrowed in confusion and caution, the name sounding rather odd for a grown teenager.

Tyrian raised an eyebrow. "You… don't remember me? Hm…" The corners of the scorpion-Faunus' lips curled down into a curious expression mixed with a frown. "Hmm?" Tyrian then tilted his head to the side, eyes just staring at Minato in concentration. "Hmmm…" The adult hummed to himself, looking down in thought. "Did you forget about us, Mini-Mini?"

Minato's reaction was then to slam his forehead right against the scorpion-Faunus' face

"Augh!" Tyrian reeled back, crying out in a moment of pain. As the scorpion-Faunus clutched his face, Minato grabbed the man by his clothing. Pivoting on his heel, the teenager threw Tyrian over his shoulder and onto the ground. With a swift kick, Minato sent his opponent flying for less than a second towards his companion.

Tyrian however seemed to gain control of his movement as he rolled on the ground. While he was in the middle of his spinning, he pushed himself off of the ground and tried to plant two feet against Raven's chin. Fortunately for the black-haired female, she managed to dodge the heels just in time as she swiftly went to Yang's side.

"Ohh, that was a doozy!" Tyrian exclaimed, rubbing his nose with a bit of irritation on his face. "Come on, Mini-Mini, what was that for?!"

"That name." Minato stared in a deadpanned expression. "Stop it. It's extremely creepy in its own right and is nowhere near close to my real name." His reasons may or may not have had an affect on the scorpion-Faunus because Hazel decided to step into the conversation.

"Tyrian," Hazel said his associate's name, causing the scorpion-Faunus to turn over and look at the rather large man. "You actually think this is him?" He raised an eyebrow, keeping an eye on Minato who seemed to keep up caution in return.

"Come on! Really, take a look!" Tyrian stated, almost excitedly like a child inside a store full of candy. "Blue hair and Semblance that summons one giant, weird, monster that is meant to scare and beat the shit out of people!" He gestured, holding out his hand and arm in a presentation manner towards Minato. "How can it not be Mini-Mini!? Seriously, tell me! Give me a good reason!"

Hazel only kept a rather stoic eye on Tyrian's hyper rant, but seemed to actually consider the words that were spewing out of the Faunus' mouth. "You make rather valid points. Still…" The man grunted in response before looking back to Minato. "You." Hazel nodded his chin to the blue-haired teenager. "Your name is Minato, correct?"

The boy in question seemed to hesitate to answer that question. But then he decided to nod his head. "Yes…" He said slowly, still a bit hesitant to answer the question.

"See?" Tyrian asked. "See?!" His arm movements were a bit intense. "What did I tell you?! That has to be Mini-Mini right there!" He then began to giggle like the madman he seemed to be. "Ohh, it's so good to see you again!"

"…You know who I am?" Minato asked slowly, his head craning towards Yang at the speed of the words escaping his mouth. As soon as his eyes looked at the blonde, his girlfriend gave him a confused shrug. It looked like she was as taken aback as he was.

"Hah? Of course we do!" Tyrian yelled out with a massive grin on his face. He then sighed with a nostalgic look while rubbing the bottom of his nose. "Ah, I still remember the times you used to crawl around trying to catch my stinger. You never did succeed though."

"Yes, we know who you are." Hazel confirmed with a nod of his head, his voice getting straight to the point. But then he stared for about a second after. "You don't know us… You don't remember us to be more specific."

Minato nodded in response, not really sure if he wanted to say anything. But while their conversation was dragging on, he had been inching towards Yang. Just because these people knew him, at least claimed to know him, that still did not get rid of the fact that they attacked Yang. When he got to her side, he still did not have the being that had stopped Tyrian before go away just in case.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on a minute." Yang decided to step into the conversation. "So you guys are saying that you know Minato but he doesn't know you." She wanted to try and sum up the entire conversation that had happened. Realization began to take over her face. Looking over towards her boyfriend, she shared a look with him.

Hazel just closed his eyes in response and nodded his head. "It's understandable." The adult simply said in response. "But that explanation is a rather long story. That story shouldn't be explained by me or him however." He pointed towards the scorpion-Faunus.

"And who would be the one to explain then?" Minato asked.

"Why your mom, silly."

That one sentence that escaped Tyrian's lips caused silence to spread throughout their entire surroundings. Just between the two groups, even a pin dropping on a nearby rock could be heard due to the lack of volume around them. For perhaps the second or third time in his life, Minato found himself speechless.

"…His… mom?" Yang asked slowly.

But before she could inquire any further, she felt a hand grab her shoulder. Turning around, she saw that Raven was the one to be touching. "Yang, get away from him… now." Raven ordered, eyeing Minato warily as if he were some kind of animal that would go after them if they make any sudden movements. Slowly, Raven dragged the blonde back while she moved herself between Yang and Minato.

The blue-haired teen however did not really pay attention to what had gone on next to him. He was too busy having that one sentence play over and over again inside of his mind. "Mom…" He whispered to himself while staring at the ground, as if the word were completely foreign to him. Minato then looked up. "… I… have a mom?"

"What?" Tyrian seemed to recoil at the words with surprise. "Of course you have a mom! How else do people come into the world?! Not by storks, that's for sure!" The scorpion-Faunus then rolled his eyes. "Honestly, birds carrying babies all over the world. What kind of fantasy is that? Although, it is an amusing thought to think about what would happen if they do accidentally drop a baby."

Minato… didn't really know what to say. He was… shocked to say the least. That just meant that he still had his real family out there. Well… perhaps real should be a mild term. He had not really met his parents yet. But as far as he knew, he was not exactly getting great first impressions with the two adults in front of him attempting to kidnap Yang.

But that indeed did leave another question however. Why. Why did they just leave him alone? Leave him at an orphanage? What kind of issue was there?

Hazel seemed to see the look in Minato's eyes. "You have many questions." He stated but nodded his head once again. "That's understandable. You were just a toddler when we last saw you."

"But now you're all grown up!" Tyrian seemed to hop on the spot. "Oh, this is such wonderful news!" He then suddenly frowned. "Although… is it really a good idea to take him back?" He raised an eyebrow and looked over to Hazel. "I mean… there is a reason why we had to get him away from there, right?" He then smacked his own face. "Ah, well, worth the risk!" A grin then grew on the man's face. "Just you wait about a few minutes, Mini-Mini! We just need to grab the two girls and then we'll be on our way!"

Hazel rolled his eyes. "You would think like that." He grunted, but then spread his arms out. "But, I guess he should properly know."

Hearing this, Minato immediately slid himself in front of Yang and Raven. Tyrian's grin dropped down in response. "She's not going anywhere." He stated, raising his right hand as the being still lingered around them. "Especially if it's with you."

"…Ah." Tyrian managed to say after a couple of blinks with his eyes. "That makes things a bit more complicated because…" He drawled out, trying to think about what to say. "Well, your mother told us to and… she wouldn't be very happy if we didn't."

Minato frowned. "My mother told you to kidnap girls?" Due to the moment just bouncing all over the place, he didn't exactly put much thought into a single word of that sentence. Instead, he settled for a suspicious gaze. "Why?"

"Well, not girls per say." Tyrian snorted. "If that were the case, we'd be as vulgar as sex traffickers." He then shook his head. "No, no, no. Girl with… special powers. Something… much bigger… much better than a Semblance. For reasons we could explain, but it would be better heard from the goddess herself."

… So, they were pretty much offering to take him back to his… home. Tyrian also mentioned… goddess as well? Was his mother… considered than beautiful then? Or was the man just basically some sort of cult worshipper? Watching the scorpion-Faunus act, he probably assumed the latter a lot more than the former.

Eyeing Yang once again, the blonde even had a face that knew what they were talking about. Those ice powers that the blonde had. But then Minato looked back at the two males. "You said you're going to take me back, correct?" He asked, wanting to clarify. "Where is that exactly?"

"Your home." Hazel answered patiently.

"My home is in Vale." Minato answered.

"And the one before that?" The muscular male simply replied. He then saw Minato still staring and sighed. "Come. We'll take you back when we're done."

It was a few moments of both parties being frozen, but it gave Minato the time to think. After that, Tyrian and Hazel stepped forward but Minato raised his hand. Rather than pose for a gunshot, he instead raised a finger. "I'll come along." He stated, but brought the sentence out slowly to make sure to make it clear there was a follow-up. "But only under the condition that you leave Yang and the other girl alone."

Tyrian blinked. "…Yang?" He asked, eyeing the blonde. "You mean Goldilocks over there?" He raised an eyebrow. "Why do you want that?"

"She's my girlfriend."

"…" Tyrian opened his mouth, but a strangled voice escaped his lips. Closing them, he opened up and tried to speak but nothing came out once again. But for the third time, he successfully spoke. "… Oh dear…" He finally said. "This… kind of complicates things." He then thought. "Could we perhaps-"

"No."

"You didn't even-"

"I said no."

"You don't-"

"No means no."

Minato face grew a frown once again, his features becoming rather rigid as he was adamant at the moment. Despite the man seeming psychotic, there was a childish bit which sadly reminded Minato of Ruby; hence the rather stern denial of the adult's wants. There were even aspects of Tai and Qrow in there as well to boot. Not exactly a nice thought.

"I'll say it again." Minato stepped forward, his eyes half open which almost made him look dangerous. "You can take me back. Take me to wherever you had in mind. Whatever you consider to be my home. But you are to leave Yang and the other girl, Vernal, alone." His tone made no room for argument at all, the black-being behind him seeming to grunt and growl with Minato's words.

Tyrian's arms limply dropped down as he was also hunched over. His lips curled down into through, looking at Minato as if he were a bit crazy. "So… what do you think?" The man looked over towards Hazel.

Folding his arms, the muscular male also was contemplating Minato's words. "…" Hazel exhaled through his nostrils, clearing thinking about this with a lot of concentration. "… We at least can confirm that the Spring Maiden is with the Branwen Tribe, so we can simply continue to track her down." He started at first quietly, only for him and Tyrian to hear. "The Winter Maiden we also know is close to Minato. With Fall in our possession, it would only be a matter of time before Summer is found." With eyes opening, he looked directly at Minato and spoke loud enough for the teenager to hear. "We accept your conditions. Let's get going then."

Minato felt a bit… relieved. The blue-haired boy nodded his head. "Can you wait for a moment or two?" He asked. "I just want to talk to Yang about something."

Seeing Hazel nod his head in return, the male teenager turned around. While the creature with coffins went away, Minato found himself at the receiving end of a glare from Raven. "Do not come any closer to her." The black-haired female shook her head. "I knew there was something off when I first laid eyes on you, but to think you were really the spawn of-"

"Mom!" Yang exclaimed, stepping around the female and put herself between Raven and Minato. "He helped us! And yet you're just throwing some kind of… weird accusation at him! Why?! What had he done for you to act so hostile! I mean…"

"You don't know yet, Yang. But you will when I tell you." Raven stated, grabbing her daughter's shoulder but kept her eyes on Minato. "Right now though, you need to stay away from him. Especially if he's going back with those two psychopaths."

Yang grabbed the wrist and tore it right off of her shoulder. "He's just going back to see his real family who he hasn't seen since he was a toddler! What's wrong with that!?" She argued back. "I mean, yeah, one of them seems unstable and all, but I at least know that Minato will never be like them!"

"You know, as entertaining as your bickering is, I think Mini-Mini has something to say!" Tyrian called out from the side.

"Shut up!" Raven yelled back, turning her head over to the scorpion-Faunus before looking back at Yang. But then she saw the blonde's eyes turn red and were glaring at her defiantly. Going again what her parent wanted…

It then reminded Raven of something. A past she had left behind for this present day. But it seemed as if the past was already catching up to her. With a single sigh, she turned around. "Fine, but make sure you don't do anything you will regret." Raven folded her arms and stepped a couple of meters away before turning around again.

Yang spun around on her heels to face Minato. "So…" Yang tried to start off, her eyes wandering around their surroundings. "… You're going to see your mom…" It felt a bit awkward being the center of attention between three adults. "…Hope that goes better than what happened with me." She attempted to get a laugh out of Minato.

The boy shrugged. "… Maybe." Minato answered. "Though… it is kind of worrying about how they reacted to you and… your ice abilities."

Feeling his hands being squeezed, Minato looked down and saw that such limbs were in Yang's own hand. "Aww, that's so sweet of you." Yang grinned. "But don't worry. You know how tough I can be."

"… I guess." Minato nodded his head, feeling his arms now being swung around due to Yang being the perpetrator.

The blonde noticed his moment of silence. "You feeling a bit nervous?" She saw him nod. "Yeah, I get it." Yang stated. "But hey, I know you'll be able to handle it when the time comes. Hope it goes well for you and stuff."

"Thanks." He nodded his head.

Minato saw Yang smile. Immediately, he dragged her towards him and wrapped his arms around her body. Stunned at the sudden embrace, Yang quickly recovered from her shock. With a shake of her head with an amused look, she hugged him back. "I'll miss you." She said.

"Same here." Minato replied back as they broke off the hug. "I'll try to be back home in Vale in about a week… that is if things go well."

"Well, I guess that means the same goes for me." Yang gently punched Minato's shoulder in a playful manner. "Hope things work out for you."

"… I kind of hope so too." Minato agreed with her. With a small wave, he watched Yang wave back. Walking towards the other two males, he stood a couple of feet away from them. "I'm ready." He nodded his head.

"Well, let's be on our way then!" Tyrian clapped his hands together. "Oh, you are absolutely going to love it!"

Just watching the scorpion-Faunus constantly talk Minato's ear off, Yang continued to watch as the three males walked away into a random direction until they were either too far or the tree obscured her vision. But when she turned around to look at Raven, the adult did not look happy at all.

"We have much to discuss." Raven stated with a frown.

 **Y13**

"And here we are! Home sweet home!"

Minato stayed silent, just being unsure if he wanted to put in the effort to react to what had been revealed to him.

Looking around, he took in the environment he had traveled. Apparently, he had been blindfolded during the trip. Tyrian claimed that he wanted it to be a surprise, but Minato took it more along the lines of a message that they wanted to keep this place a secret.

At first glance, it didn't appear too different than a normal forest from Remnant. But after a moment, he started to notice how the vegetation wasn't exactly the healthiest. While he had seen dead trees plenty of times as seasons passed, these trunks looked… diseased. The horizon above and beyond him was actually rather red as well, the color being completely unnatural compared to the blue he was used to,

Nothing but solid rock created the natural scenery of the place. Among all of the cliffs and wherever the stone element was, purple crystals were sprouting up like plants and were haphazardly littering their surroundings. Minato actually wondered if those were actually gravity Dust crystals.

But what caught his attention were pools of black tar. As he was guided through the field filled with so many of the pitch-dark puddles, he saw a few bubble. Just as he walked past them though, he saw them emerge, almost like his Semblance.

First came bony-white claws. As if it were dragging itself out from suffocating under the thick liquid, it slammed a dark hand onto the dry, stony land. A second paw with claws came out and did the same thing. With a heave, it brought a massive amount of gunk up as the body rose up. It took a few seconds for the sticky liquid to fall off. But as it slid down, it revealed a single Beowulf walking out of the pool like it was nothing, taking its first ever howl.

"It's a rather revolting sight, huh?"

Turning his head over when hearing Hazel's question, Minato realized that he had actually stopped in place in order to watch the event that had just played before his eyes. "…Not really." Minato found himself answering, seeing more Grimm dragging themselves out of the tar and walking in the opposite direction he was going.

Hazel stared as Minato continued to watch the Grimm drag themselves around. "… You are kind of like your mother." He noted, causing the boy to stare at him once again. "Come on, it's not much farther."

As Hazel began to move, Minato did as well and noticed that Tyrian had actually gone on ahead. Looking forward, the teenager blinked and looked up. He wondered how he didn't see the rather large structure that was on a tall cliff overlooking the entire scenery that he was in the middle of. Of course, it got bigger the closer he had approached it.

Walking up a rather steep slope, Minato found himself feeling… a bit comfortable. As if he were back in Vale in his home. His hands brushed along one of the purple crystals and he found that his hands were trailing across the surfaces of the smooth, shiny gems. Cupping his hand, he accidentally broke off a chunk that was skinny compared to the thickness of the main body of the crystal.

The snapping sound echoed around them and the two adults look over to see Minato with his hands behind his back. "Mm." Tyrian shrugged his shoulders and Hazel grunted is a neutral volume. The boy assumed that he was going to be in a bit of trouble for breaking the crystal, so he pocketed the item and didn't tell them.

As Tyrian pushed open a set of door, Minato was greeted to a grand hallway with grey walls. Being gestured to still follow, he slowly trailed behind and was led through the maze of a building he saw a few moments ago.

"You both are back, I see." Hearing a voice ahead, Minato tilted his head to look from behind Hazel's large build. In his sight was a tall middle-aged man with a slim build and slightly tanned skin. He also had short black and gray hair with a mustache and green eyes. The man wore a gray overcoat with yellow linings, a yellow dress shirt and a black necktie. His pants were the same color as his overcoat. His yellow-buttoned undercoat and finger-less gloves matched his cordovan shoes, under which he wore yellow socks.

The mustached man seemed to have a look of disapproval while shaking his head. "Completely empty-handed I see, if I may add as well." He sighed while shaking his head as if he were ashamed of them. "What a disappointment. I wonder how…" The man trailed off when he noticed the blue-haired boy staring at him. "… Who is that? A maiden? Because she looks like a male."

Tyrian snorted. "Now, now, Watts, that wasn't nice at all!" Tyrian chuckled, sauntering over to the man. The newly dubbed Watts leaned back, away from the scorpion-Faunus with a disturbed look. "Come on! Take a good look. Like, a real close look! Go on! You'll be able to recognize who it is!"

"… If I do take a look, will you back up?" Watts asked. "You are invading my personal space." When Tyrian went away, the other adult began to walk up to Minato. As Hazel moved out of the way, Minato remained as still as a statue, but kept his head craning around as Watts paced about. It took a few seconds followed by many hums from the adult. "… Are you quite sure this is somebody we are acquainted with?"

Hazel hummed. "It seems you need to show him something else" The man stated to Minato.

Watts raised an eyebrow and looked over towards the muscular man. "What are you talking about?" He asked. But when he went to turn his face back to Minato, Watts came face to face with a skull that had a pitch-black body. Despite there being no mouth, he could feel hot air being breathed onto his face. There was even a subtle growl from the sudden monster and Watts fought the urge to swallow.

As the monster began to fade away, Watts found himself staring at Minato once more. The usual bland expression on boy's face began to become familiar soon after. "… Oh, it's you again." Watts sighed. "The brat who never cried at all." He rolled his eyes. "Despite that being rather relieving, it was rather disturbing at the same time whenever you would just stare." He then looked up and back. "I thought that it was bad that he stays here."

Tyrian shrugged. "I'm sure things won't turn out to be too bad. I mean, it's been about 15 years since we last saw…" He trailed off with a frown of thought. "You know, I still wonder how I'm supposed to refer to it."

Watts shook his head in an irritated motion. "Well, she has been waiting for you since your arrival. So instead of having the maiden's, you are thinking that showing him here will appeal to her." He gestured to Minato with his chin.

"Pretty much." Tyrian nodded without an ounce of shame before beckoning. "Come on, Mini-Mini." He tapped a large door which Minato did not notice that they were right next to. "Just behind this door…" He paused for dramatic reasons. "Our goddess… Your mother."

Noticing that he was given a sudden berth of space, Minato slowly walked forward. Everything seemed… smaller all of a sudden. As if he had once thought the inside of the building was once… bigger. Placing his hands on the door, he found himself hesitating a bit. Looking back, he saw Tyrian nodding eagerly, Hazel had his arms folded, and Watts was tapping his foot impatiently.

Shoving the doors open, Minato found himself inside of a grand room with windows lining the walls and a massive table.

At the end of the table though, staring out of the far window, was a female with deathly pallor, covered with deep red and purple veins that ran up her arms and face. The woman wore a very long black robe with red designs resembling eyes. There was a ring resembling an insect on her right index finger. Her hair was white which formed into a bun with six offshoots from which ornaments were suspended.

As she turned around, it was revealed that the sclerae of her eyes were jet black and her irises glowed red. There was even a black diamond-shaped marking on the center of her forehead.

As soon as her red eyes met his, Minato was unsure how she actually reacted. Her face was kept straight but the act of seeming to freeze indicated surprise or shock. Yet that moment passed soon as the woman began to stride forward slowly. It was as if she were gliding lazily along the floor.

As soon as she was a few inches away from him, she slowly raised her hand. Feeling the palm cup and caress his cheek, he felt the cold skin. But rather than shiver… it felt relaxing… relieving. It then began to go through his mind. White hair that reminded him of snow… Her skin being pale… Much paler than he had remembered or expected.

"… You…" She started off slowly, as if thinking about the best words to say. "… Look a bit tired, my son."

"You look a bit evil, mother." Minato immediately replied back.

 **There we go! What I've been wanting to reveal but only clued in on for the past… 18? chapters! This chapter was an awkward start, but it finished well I guess.** **Okay… now time to go to some other story.**

 **As for why I made Yang the Winter Maiden rather than Summer since so many people are asking me... I just thought due to the setting of when she got her powers in the first place, it was suitable. Especially since, once again, these 'true' events did happen during winter time. Plus, I thought it would be fun trying to come up with ice fighting scenes instead of the typical fire/flames Yang always has. Yes, the Summer Maiden can possibly have other elements, but I wanted to try something unique that I have not seen (so far through my time on FF).**

 **No flames please.**


	20. Chapter 20

**This is a fanfic. BUY THE FUCKING MERCHANDISE!**

A silence passed between Minato, his mother, and the three adults behind the teenager as the atmosphere changed into a rater tense area.

But then a sudden breath escaped the female through her nose. Her face did not change at all. There was something behind that air though.

"…I see." Her words were curt. Turning around, she walked towards the farther end of the massive table. Now that Minato wasn't as focused on the female, he noticed that there were still no footsteps. Only the sound of the ornaments in her hair clinking against one another created noise which indicated her movement; almost bringing chills to one's spine due to the sounds alone.

He silently contemplated the words that escaped his lips. "Perhaps that was not the best way greet you after a long time." Minato found himself admitting, still standing in place while keeping an eye on the woman.

"…That may be." She only answered, approaching a chair that looked like a throne made out of the very crystals that Minato saw outside of the building. When she sat down, her gaze turned over to where he stood. With a pale hand, she gestured to the wooden seat that was to her right. "Sit." Her offer almost sounded like an order.

Minato found himself hesitating now. While all of this was going a little fast for him, there were at least a few things that stuck inside his mind. The main thing was that these were technically the people that tried to kidnap Yang and that his mother was the one to indirectly order it. Yet still…

Walking forward at a steady pace, he eventually found himself next to the seat which his mother had gestured towards. Looking at the wood, Minato turned his head back towards the female who stared back at him. Grabbing one of the arms, Minato eventually began to slowly descend himself down onto the chair.

The others soon took their own seats as well. Tyrian, Hazel, and Watts took their own seat around the two of them, making sure to leave a bit of a berth for the family.

Minato then began to have his head crane around the room. Everything look so… odd, warped, corrupted compared to the usual settings he was used to back in Vale. Yet he did not mind it at all. In fact, it made him feel at home. The dark colors almost embraced him. "…Who are you?" Minato finally spoke, his gaze falling upon his mother once more.

Despite his blunt words, she acted as if it were completely normal and did not mind at all. "…I am your mother." She stated calmly.

"I need something more specific." Minato replied back. "A name for example."

"…Understandable." She hummed but made no movement of her head. Her gaze was straight like his, but her expressions were shifting slightly for every answer unlike him. "My name is Salem." Her hand then made a sweeping motion around the table. "I assume that you've already met Tyrian," The scorpion-Faunus waved. "Hazel," The muscular-male nodded his head. "And Watts." A roll of the eyes was all the man did.

Minato glanced at each member she introduced.

But then the pleasantries, if there were any, vanished in an instant when the three adults had the full attention of Salem. "Tyrian, Hazel, why did you come back without the Spring Maiden but instead with my son?" Her question was asked in curiosity and displeasure. A small frown graced her lips and narrow eyes highlighted her face. "Out of the three of you, you two would be the ones who know better than this."

Minato could not tell if his mother was referring to him or this… Spring Maiden. The effects of her words however were almost immediate. Tyrian leaned back a bit while releasing a nervous sound. Hazel didn't visibly react but still gazed at Salem warily. "We-well, you see my lady," Tyrian started, in what looked like an attempt to calm Salem down. "What happened was that we did arrive where the Branwen Tribe was located. There was not only the Spring Maiden, but the Winter one too!"

Salem's gaze never changed one bit. However, her head changed to a different angle when the word winter was mentioned. "That does not explain your failure or the presence of my son." She answered after a period of silence.

"Minato was at their camp when we arrived." Hazel supplied for the scorpion-Faunus. "He helped protect the Spring and Winter Maidens from us. Upon recognizing him, Tyrian asked if he wanted to come with us back here." The muscular-man ignored the look Tyrian gave him. "Minato agreed to come to be able to see you, only under the condition that we leave the two Maidens alone."

Displeasure was beginning to become a common feature on Salem's face. "Ah – yes – that actually leads to another topic." Tyrian quickly spoke out after, trying to ease the tension. "The reason Mini-Mini gave those terms is… well… because…" For a rather simple sentence, the actual phrase was quite complicated.

"Tyrian…"

"Mini-Mini is in a relationship with the Winter Maiden."

The words were quick, but the sentence was clear and effective. Everyone went quiet after the reveal. Only their breath could be heard among the five of them. Salem's attention was brought back toward Minato. Seeing the pair of red eyes on him, Minato gazed towards them with his grey (could also be considered light-blue) ones.

"…Minato…" She finally spoke. "Is this true?" Her question was simple, and Minato nodded to answer. Salem seemed to process his action carefully. "Stand." Minato stayed still for about a moment, but then he got off of his seat. A second later, Salem rose from her own chair. "Watts, return to your duties. Tyrian and Hazel, you will stay here and reflect upon your actions while I think of the appropriate way to make sure you both think properly."

Watts nodded his head, rising from his own seat. The male didn't give the other adults a passing glance. But he eyed Minato for a second before exiting the room.

Minato saw this and watched the man walk away. Hearing the sound of ornaments tapping against one another, he looked around. Seeing his mother, Salem, striding in a direction, he assumed that he was supposed to follow her. While he trailed after her, he eyed Tyrian and Hazel still in their seat; the former seeming horrified while the other looked a bit grim.

Walking behind the pale-figure, Minato noted the row of large-windows that they were walking past. From his view, he saw the twisted sky when first arriving to this place now complimented by the shattered moon to show that it was now about night time.

"…Beautiful, is it not?" Salem's voice grabbed Minato attention. He nearly bumped into her but stopped himself at the last second. Her entire body was turned towards the glass and was looking at the large scene. "Can you imagine if it was whole? Not broken at all?"

Minato craned his head over and up to look at her eyes. He did not speak a word. Mainly because he felt like he didn't need to respond to her.

Salem was well aware of the silence. "…I apologize if I seemed cold to you back in the room." Her words came out slowly, like she was struggling with what to say. "I did not mean to make it sound as if I did not want to see you."

"Then what was your intention?" Minato asked, keeping his body parallel in front of the window but his head still stared at Salem.

"…How was it for you? Growing up away from here?" The blue-haired male's face slowly went down in displeasure. Her head turned toward him and saw the expression. She went silent, but then moved to a different topic. "You say that you are in a relationship with the Winter Maiden." Minato did not visibly react to the change of the subject, keeping his face from before on. "How did that come to be?"

Minato turned his head to look forward toward the moon. "Why do you want to know?"

"Because I am curious." Salem answered. There was no answer coming from her son though. "Do you hate me?" The white-haired female eventually asked. "For having left you alone?"

Minato exhaled through his nose with enough audio for the both of them to hear. "…No, I don't hate you." He stated. Salem kept her eye on him though, as if wanting him to elaborate. Minato shook his head. "I loved you as any child could love their parent… until I figured out it hurts a lot less to just not care. I don't expect you to turn up when I come home? No disappointments. I don't expect you to comfort me whenever I ended up sad or hurt? No disappointments. But until that came to my head, I want to ask you, how many disappointments did you make me feel?"

The white-haired female was still silent, listening to her son rant on about how his life was without her. Her head dipped lower with each passing second, but she still maintained her patient and neutral gaze toward Minato.

"Yang was at least there for me. We first met when we were both thirteen. It was strange as she chose to be with me at first, but I eventually got used to it. After being with each other after a while, I proposed that we enter a relationship. We've been together for 3 years now." His hands dangled at his sides. "What exactly are you curious about? Is it about this topic of Maidens?"

She went quiet for a second. "…Yes, it is." She trailed off at the end of the sentence, Minato's words still in her mind. "You are curious about what they are about."

"I will admit, it's on my mind. But I've had time to think about it during the trip here."

"…And? What have you concluded?"

"That the story of the Four Maidens is true." Minato's statement was extremely blunt. "The wizard that gave those girls their powers. Winter. Spring. Summer. Fall. All of them are real. It makes more sense now, considering that no Aura was lost when she conjured up ice."

Salem nodded her head. "…Yes, that is correct." Her eyes held a bit of curiosity. "You are quite astute."

"I can only imagine how Yang will react." Minato said.

"…Yang…" The female's tone was neutral but held an unknown emotion behind it. "That is the name of the Winter Maiden."

"That is the name of my girlfriend, mother." Minato corrected immediately, looking back up towards her. "Which brings me back to something. What do you want with these Maidens?"

Salem frowned at the attitude Minato showed her for a brief moment. "…You are fond of her." She stated.

"I love her." Minato replied immediately.

Quietly, Salem scanned Minato's body with her eyes. After a couple of moments, she spoke. "You are perhaps wondering why you were growing up out there in Remnant rather than here."

Once again, there was a change in the conversation and it did not fit well with Minato. Nonetheless, he nodded his head.

"When you were born, your father and I had an… arrangement between us." Salem began. "You stated how I looked a bit evil when you just saw me, remember? You are certainly correct, depending on your opinion." She paused to allow Minato to stare at her blankly despite her confession. "Your father impregnated me, and I gave birth to you months later. My goal is to bring the end to both intelligent species on Remnant. Your father's intentions however were different from what I expected."

"What does that have to do with me?" Minato asked after a period of silence. Yes, it was odd to him how his mother flat out stated her intentions to him like it was nothing. But he did not focus on that at the moment.

"Your father wanted you to play a large part of his desired achievement." Salem answered. "At first, I was fine with it." Minato visibly frowned at her words. "But… time passed. I came to discover that despite our goals being the same, they were extremely different at the same time. Not only that… but I came to a discovery that I did not want you involved with any of this. As I cared for you day after day, nurturing you… I eventually found myself loving you, my son."

Minato watched as her arms began to descend towards him. Her white hands grabbed his shoulders gently. That was when Minato's blank gaze began to break. It almost started to reflect what Salem showed as she had her knees bent and was staring straight at him.

"I did not want you to be used by your father, Minato." She shook her head slowly. "But I knew that he would do anything to achieve his goal. As long as you were here, I could not fully protect you from his grasp. That is why I had Tyrian and Hazel find a place for you to live that was far away from us. So that you wouldn't be involved any longer in any of this conflict at all. That your father, when he would come here, would never be able to find you. But… it seems as if fate is kind yet very cruel."

"…What about my father then?" Minato asked quietly after Salem had stopped speaking for a few seconds. "I could remember you, Tyrian, Hazel, and Watts. But… how come I don't remember anything about him? What he looked like? Who he was?"

"…Your father was an enigmatic soul." Salem eventually answered. "After impregnating me, he was left and waited for your birth and for you to be strong enough. He has not shown himself here for… almost fifteen years. But at the risk of coming back, I did not want you here. Unfortunately, it seems that my efforts have been for naught."

Minato grunted softly, accepting her explanation. "That explains why I was suddenly away from home when I woke up…"

"…Yes." Salem nodded her head while averting her gaze slightly away from his face.

"And the inheritance? What about that?"

To that, Salem looked curiously back to Minato. "Inheritance?" She asked.

"Yes." Minato answered. "When I was brought in, the people who took care of me said that there was a small to average-sized fortune that was left with me. I couldn't use it yet at my age though. So, they set up a bank account for me and I could use it when they felt it was appropriate."

A breath escaped Salem's lips, almost sounding amused. "It seems Watts does care for you as well but prefers not to show it."

Minato did not properly reply to that one sentence. "…So, should I still be here then?" He asked, earning himself a gaze from Salem. "You said it yourself. I'm putting myself in danger just by being here. Not only that, you're trying to destroy humanity and Faunus-kind while I want to protect them… Wouldn't that make us enemies?"

The grip on his shoulders tightened, but it was not so that it restrained him. "Minato…" Salem said quietly. "It is your choice of how you want to grow up in the future. I have accepted this when I hid you from your father." Her hands grasped a bit harder slowly. "If that is how you think, then it shall be. We may be enemies now, but you are still my son… I will always love you no matter what."

"…Do you love me enough to leave Yang alone?"

Salem went silent for a moment, but Minato had a good feeling that he knew the answer to that question whether or not it would be verbal. "You're right." She answered. "It is dangerous for you to be here. But it has been a very long time since your father has even set foot here, so I assume that he already knows what I have done and is searching for you across Remnant. If he does show up however, I will need you to run away from here as fast as you can. Do you understand? Nod if you do."

Minato slowly nodded his head to answer her. His response pleased the woman.

"Thank you." She nodded her head as well.

That was when Minato felt himself be pulled towards Salem. In an embrace once more that day, Minato noted the difference and similarities between Yang's hugs and now his mother's. Yang's body was hot and helped him feel relaxed. Salem's meanwhile was cold, but it brought a warm feeling to him.

It was an internal debate soon after. As he said before, he did not hate his mother at all. Minato was mainly disappointed with her. Yet still he soon started to sluggishly wrap his arms around his mother's body hesitantly.

After a few more seconds, Salem broke the hug and had her hands back gently on his shoulders. But saw the look in his eyes. "You have more questions. However, it is getting late by your standards I assume." She stated. "Come, you can sleep in my chambers."

Minato blinked as Salem turned and began to walk down the pathway inside of the building. Choosing not to speak, he followed once again behind her. A couple of minutes later, he entered a room after her that was large yet very plain. The only feature inside was a queen-sized bed at the far end of the room.

"…There's only one bed." He stated.

"Yes, that is correct." Salem answered. "But I have almost never used it. My body does not require sleep, but I do if I choose to do so." She held her hand out towards the furniture, offering it for his comfort.

Slowly and hesitantly, Minato moved closer to the bed. In voluntarily, he released a yawn which proved Salem's point of it being late by his standards. He then looked over to her. "…Do you mind?" He asked, taking off the suit that was on his person.

Salem turned around while he stripped down so that he only wore his boxers and undershirt. He was not fully prepared for sleeping in another bed, but he had to make do. He was at least convinced that his mother would not harm him.

All the while, he wondered how Yang was actually doing at the moment. Right now, she was with her own mother. If the blonde knew what he just went through, Yang would probably start comparing how their relationships with their moms were weird. Minato even thought that he would end up agreeing with her if she ever did mention that.

Putting the rest of his clothing over the bedframe, Minato slipped under the covers. He had to admit, it was incredibly awkward having to sleep in his mother's bed. But it slightly dropped down a bit when she said that it was hardly ever used.

Laying in the bed, he was about to close his eyes when he saw that Salem was still in the room. It then occurred to him. "…Could you not punish Tyrian and Hazel?" He asked, causing the female to turn around and gaze at him. "It was me being curious and wanting to see you. They just complied because they thought it was appropriate and good for me."

Salem narrowed her eyes just by a fraction and she approached his side. She turned her head to various angles to get a better look a Minato under the covers. "…If that is what you think is appropriate." She nodded her head.

"…Thank you." Minato nodded back.

But his mother did not leave. Instead, she stepped closer to her. Eventually, she began to sit down on an empty space that was next to him. Reaching over, she slowly began to start brushing her hand against his head.

 **(** Play **Memories of Mother – God of War OST)**

Gentle humming began to fill the air soon after. Salem's voice became soothing to Minato's ear. Her fingers gently passed through his hair. Softly, she caressed the top of his head tenderly. He stared up at the ceiling, listening to the soft sounds he never knew could come from his mother; let alone existed. As the sounds of her voice carried on, Minato's body felt heavier with each passing second. He did not mind it at all, feeling almost peaceful listening to his mother.

As his eyelids eventually closed and he went to sleep, Salem still hummed to try comfort him for the years that he was gone.

 **(End Song)**

 **Y13**

"…And after we woke up, we heard a bunch of people outside of our door yelling IT WAS A SOCK! IT WAS A FUCKING SOCK!"

Raven could not properly expression how she was feeling at the moment right after hearing the story that Yang had just told her.

A small tea cup was just an inch away from her mouth. The steaming liquid was filled into the small holder half-way as even the black-haired female's lips were open. For a while, her jaw was dropped when she learned that her daughter had been high once. Even her companion was a part of the drama that had ensued that very night Yang had become the Winter Maiden.

"Yeah, that's how I pretty much became the Winter Maiden." Yang shrugged her shoulders, ignoring the cup of tea that was on the table in front of her.

After moving back towards the new camp right after the battle, Raven had Yang go straight to the private tent so she could get proper information right out of Yang. But the blonde almost proved to be stubborn, wanting her own answers as well. So they had come to an agreement, a question for a question.

Yang came to learn that the stories and fairy tales she heard as a child were true so far. It was especially bizarre for her to learn that she was actually had the power from one of the characters of the Four Maidens story. The Winter Maiden to be more specific.

"…I cannot decide if I should now be disturbed by you becoming the Winter Maiden or that you gained that role because you were high and did not know which direction to go." Raven finally spoke after a while.

"Yeah, it was quite the trip. Pun intended by the way." Yang grinned at her own little joke before slapping her hand onto her knee. "Right, my turn to ask a question." She leaned forward, allowing the happiness on her face to drop. "Why were you completely against Minato even being next to me after those two weird guys attacked?"

Raven put her cup down. Closing her eyes, she thought hard about what words should come next. She knew that her daughter was able to take things seriously depending on the situation. Despite what she thought from what Qrow had told her, the earlier fight had shown that her daughter was indeed strong and had the capability of being smart.

"The creatures of Grimm…" Raven started slowly. "They have a master named Salem. She can't be stopped, she can't be reasoned with, and she will not rest until humanity crumbles at her feet. Those two that attacked? They were her followers." She then grabbed her cup again and looked at her reflection in the liquid. "Just imagine what that spawn from her could become."

The sound of a gunshot cracked through the air as porcelain shattered. Looking up, Raven saw that Yang was on her feet with fists clenched and eyes red. "Don't you dare talk about Minato like you know him! From what you described of this Salem person, he is the complete opposite of her!"

A weapon being lifted soon came as the blonde looked behind her. Right at the entrance of the tent, Vernal was standing with a strange looking weapon pointed right at Yang's back. "You need to calm down." Vernal stated with narrowed eyes.

"Oh, trust me, I am calm." Yang scoffed, turning around to give the girl her full attention. "If I weren't, that thing would be broken and you'd be flying toward the other side of the camp right now." Her fists shook, creating the sound of metal rattling. Eventually, she took inhaled deeply and sighed. "…Is that the reason you left us? Because you were scared of this Salem?" Her question came with display of her lilac eyes.

Raven stood up as well. "There is so much more to this world than you realize. It's not just about you, and not just what I've been told, but things you see with your own eyes. You can't imagine what I've seen myself, Yang." She stepped closer to her daughter. "I know the Grimm have a leader, I know people who can come back from the dead, I know that magic is real." The black-haired female leaned in closer. "And I know that nothing good comes from Salem."

"You don't know everything." Yang challenged, leaning closer herself. "You haven't even properly gotten to know Minato. You CAN stop Minato, you CAN reason with him, and he's becoming a huntsman to protect people! How is that similar to this Salem?" She sighed again, allowing the air to calm her down. Yang then sat herself down. "Just… at least don't hate Minato just because of how you think he is."

Raven stared at Yang. Looking up, she gestured for Vernal to wait outside. Watching the girl leave, Raven stayed standing. "Fine, I'll leave the subject there. But only because I'm sure that you have more questions for me. Forget about out agreement, I'll answer everything of my choice." Her eyes however narrowed dangerously. "However, if Minato is anything different from what you described to me, I will take my time to enjoy the agony on his face when I'm through with him."

Yang raised an eyebrow to that statement. "The agony on his face?"

"Yes, that is correct." Raven answered. "Do you have a problem with that?" She asked. But then she grew confused to why Yang had that look on her face.

"Mom, let me tell you something. It is next to impossible to get any sort of pained look on Minato's face when hurting him physically. To prove a theory, I one time straight up punched him in the dick as hard as I could. When he went into the air, he grabbed the shoulders of my jacket and used the momentum behind my punch to flip over and slam me back down onto the ground while only giving me a really weird look. It hurt my pride more than anything... Well, except my tailbone which he bruised. Did you know the scientific term for tailbone is coccyx?"

 **Hm? Hmm… It's not bad. I could have ended up making it far worse. I'm not sure if I wrote Salem well for you guys. I got a lot of flak from a Guest because of characters not being as they are so it is to my concern. I already had a tough time writing this out since… it's Salem. I've hardly seen any fic even touch up on her.**

 **I mean… I'm happy with how I wrote her. I guess I did make her a bit too compassionate though.**

 **No flames please.**


	21. Chapter 21

**This is a fanfic. BUY THE FUCKING MERCHANDISE!**

Stepping out of the tent, Yang found herself protecting her eyes from the sun for a couple of seconds before taking in the sight of a new morning.

Already, many of the bandits that followed her mom were up and about. Many were just doing their own personal activities, sharpening their weapons or just lazing about. Others seemed to have proper job, like keeping count of supplies or even cooking for the camp.

Adjusting her hat, she began walking straight towards one of the ends of the camp. Right in the direction of her mother's tent. So many questions answered yet there was so much left to ask anyways.

Yang was given the basic rundown. Salem was after the Maidens. What did she want the Maidens for though? Power?

Well, apparently it was a bit more complicated that that. It turned out that there are four relics that were left behind by the gods – yes, gods – that created mankind. Such pieces were supposed to be gifts; Knowledge, Creation, Destruction, and Choice.

These relics were actually hidden inside out the four main academies where hunters and huntresses-in-training would go of all places! With that said, it meant that Beacon Academy was actually holding a relic somewhere within its walls!

That was not all though! The headmaster, his assistant, even Uncle Qrow knew about all of this stuff! Which is why they were trying to find and protect the Maidens themselves from Salem. Qrow of all people! The womanizing drunk who practically tried to glue himself to Minato whenever a meter near the boy!

To think that she had the power to get her hands on one of the relics. It was… bizarre for a lack of a better word. Wait until Minato hears about thi-

Oh right, Minato was actually with Salem.

If that were the case, the boy would surely be able to get answers that he would want. Maybe he would be able to get more than what she could. After all, he was a bit smarter.

Speaking of which, Yang was wondering how Minato was doing at the moment anyways. Ever since they had started going out, they never missed a single day at least looking at each other and talking. This was the first time they had been separated since their relationship. Craning her head around, she sighed and made her way to where the cooks were serving their food.

"Hey, what's cooking?" Yang asked as she approached the adults distributing the grub. Yes, she acted rather casual, and it irked the bandits. She knew it, but also knew that they couldn't really hurt her unless given permission from Raven.

"…Just some dried meat."

"Hm." Yang bent down to get a closer look at the small slabs. "What kind?"

"Cat."

Yang curled the corners of her lips down but had an amused look in her eyes. "Can I take some?" She asked, looking back up.

The chef gave her a weird look but handed the blonde her appropriate share. Grabbing the meat and putting some into her mouth, Yang turned around and came face-to-face with Vernal. "Raven wants to speak with you. Now." The girl stated, arms folded and waiting for confirmation from the blonde.

"…" Yang couldn't reply, busy chewing on cat meat which was actually better tasting than she expected.

Vernal narrowed her eyes at the Yang. "Fine," She said. "We can wait for you to finish your food before we go. But be quick. I prefer that we don't keep her waiting."

"…" Yang chewed.

"…" Vernal stared.

"…" Yang nibbled.

"…" Vernal breathed.

"…" Yang moved her teeth around.

"…" Vernal's eye twitched.

"…" Yang still was working on the first piece.

"You're just screwing with me, aren't you?" Vernal finally deadpanned.

Yang only grinned, still keeping the cat meat sticking out of her mouth. "Pretty much." She answered without shame. "Alright, let's get going." She then started to walk further into the camp.

But Vernal put her hand on Yang's shoulder. "Where do you think you're going?"

"…To my mom's tent." Yang said. "Isn't that where she's waiting?"

"No." Vernal shook her head before gesturing in the other direction with the exact skull while flatly staring at the blonde. "She's outside of the camp. There's an area nearby where we go to for fighting practice."

 **Y13**

Minato snapped his eyes open, finding himself staring at a dark ceiling.

As his eyes darted around a bit, he soon began to realize that he was in reality right now rather than a dream. He sighed. Minato had dreamed last night. It wasn't pleasant, nor terrible. His dream was just… confusing to him. It was something he probably should talk to Salem about later.

Shifting around, he felt the sheets of the bed he had slept on still embracing him. That feeling went away immediately when he threw the blanked off of himself. Stretching his jaws to yawn, he moved his legs so that they would dangle at the edge of the bed. Waiting for a few seconds, he felt something rush in his head.

His vision went blurry, but he expected if since it was something he went through every day and he was decently sure people did as well due to blood flow. Getting off of the bed, he walked over to where he had set his clothing.

Putting everything back on, it was almost convenient timing when he heard the door open.

"Good morning, Mini-Mini!"

Minato found himself suddenly freezing due to the absolute enthusiasm that Tyrian greeted him with when the scorpion-Faunus kicked down the door. He swore, the energy the adult put into things when it came down to him reminded Minato of Qrow or Tai.

…It then came Minato's attention that the number of people that could exhaust him just by listening to them increased by one.

"I brought breakfast!" Tyrian only continued to announce as he stepped right in front of Minato's face before setting them both down onto the floor. Balanced right on the tip of the scorpion-tail was a tray filled with various foods of homemade quality. Bread. Some milk. Ham. Edible stuff one would usually eat for breakfast.

Minato stared, but then it came to his mind. "Where did you get this food from?" He asked. "There is no area nearby to grab supplies of that quality due to… the environment around here."

"Hm? This?" Tyrian asked back, moving the tray to his head while pointing to it. He then grabbed the latter and brought it to the floor. "You don't think we live here twenty-four seven, do you?" He then laughed. "Don't be silly, Mini-Mini! We grab supplies and stock up here when we feel like it anyways or while we are fulfilling our missions." Hands soon started clapping childishly. "Now eat up! Our goddess had requested your presence once you finish!"

Minato, deciding it was better to eat rather than talk with the risk of the conversation drawing out even longer, reached over and grabbed a slice of ham. While eating, Tyrian hopped up onto his feet. Spinning around on his heels, the scorpion-Faunus took one step before stopping. "Oh, yes, one more thing." He spun around, an even bigger grin being on his face. "Thank you for getting me and Hazel out of trouble."

"…Are my mother's punishments that bad?" Minato questioned.

Tyrian hummed before scrunching up his face. "They are… scarring." He stated, his tone losing the lightness to almost everything.

Minato noticed such a change and paused his eating. "…Mentally or physically?"

"…Whatever she thinks of appropriate."

The blue-haired male chose not to reply verbally, only nodding his head in acknowledgement to listening. Tyrian scurried off right after, allowing Minato to eat in peace.

Finishing his meal quickly, Minato then started to carry the tray to where he was supposed to meet his mother. Although Tyrian did not leave a destination where he was supposed to go, the boy assumed it was in the room with the large table.

Arriving at the large doors, he lifted a fist. Knocking on the massive wood, the sound bounced around him. The banging echoed around behind him. "Enter." He heard Salem permit.

Pushing open the door, he was greeted to the sight he had seen recently. Standing at the end of the room, staring out of the window, was the white-haired female. Turning around, Salem only continued to stay in her spot. "Minato, thank you for joining me."

Minato did not say anything at first. But still, he walked into the room. His footsteps tapped against the floor as he made his way over to the one who had given birth to him. "You're staring out of a window again." He observed.

"A habit I developed." Salem stated curtly.

The boy went up right next to his mother to stare out of the glass as she did. "…" He did not speak either, choosing to be silent.

"…I suppose it started long, long ago. Years… decades… maybe more before you were born." Salem decided to continue on, her curt answer not an appropriate one for her son. "I believe when humans had started becoming much smarter after creating civilizations." She kept her eyes glued to the window, just staring out towards the wasteland.

"I was not normal, just as I am right now." The white-haired female started off. "I was more Grimm-like appearance-wise when I was first brought into this world. I had the instincts of the beasts as well, hunting because it was what they did. But as I devoured more, change started happening. My very physique and psyche started changing. I started becoming… intelligent. My body started taking on a form that resembled a human but still resembled a Grimm. Powers beyond all races even to this day at my convenience."

"At first, people feared me given my appearance. But I learned and adapted to their styles. I settled in a village and started performing good deeds. I wanted nothing more than to use my power to help people. Sometimes that took the form of healing wounds and illness. Other times, I toppled tyrants. And for my trouble, I was punished; even put to death. A minor setback, given what I am capable of."

"People celebrated my many returns as miracles. To them, I was a god. It was by no means an unpleasant feeling." Salem looked down and stared at her chest where the heart would be located. "Over time, word of my exploits had spread to other settlements. People from afar sought my aid. I went to help these new villages, just as I did the first."

"When things finally settled down, I made my way back to the first village to rest my weary mind. I believed that I would be welcomed back with open arms."

Out of the corner of Minato's eye, he saw Salem's red orbs narrow in hatred and disgust. He even saw her hand twitch a bit.

"I was a fool. My return drew nothing but criticism." Salem spat venomously. "After growing accustomed to my powers, they all took me for granted. They blamed me for every negative event that occurred during my absence. It was then that I realized. I wasn't a savior to those people. I was merely a repairperson whose absence inconvenienced them. I was an everyday system. Every other village or establishment of civilization I helped were the same when I came to visit them."

"…And that was when you started hating humans and Faunus." Minato concluded. "You saved them and yet they only saw you as a tool rather than an idol or at least a person." His mother was silent, but he knew that anger was building up inside of her. He sighed. "Humanity and Faunus have both evolved from their past selves, but I do not blame your reasoning. Some people are still as you describe to this day."

Salem looked at Minato from the corner of her eye. "Yes… it is very unfortunate." She agreed.

A banging then echoed in the room. Both figures standing around the window turned to look at the massive door. "Enter." Salem said, ending their conversation for the moment.

As the wooden barriers were pushed open, three teenagers about Minato's age came walking into the room. Two of them, one was female with green-hair and the other was male with grey-hair, were trailing behind a girl with black hair. The one in front seemed to absolutely scream dominance and control.

As they arrived a set distance from Salem and Minato, they all kneeled down in respect. "Your grace." The teenager at the front greeted. As she looked up though, her eyes laid upon Minato. "If I may ask so suddenly, who is this?"

Salem turned her head to look at her son. "Cinder, this my child, Minato. Minato, meet the Fall Maiden; Cinder Fall. At least… half of the Fall Maiden."

 **Y13**

Yang had to admit, her mom had found an impressive spot for training.

The area was lined with trees, making the area an arena naturally. It was mainly dirt with patches of grass littered around the place. If possible, Yang would maybe consider this spot one of the most natural ideal places for a fight.

Still admiring the nature around her, she didn't take mind of her mother just staring at her from the other side of the area. Raven simply kept her eye on her daughter until she eventually started walking up to the blonde. "…What are you eating?" She asked when she saw Yang nibbling on something.

"Cat." Yang answered, her mouth slightly full due to the meat inside of her mouth. She then swallowed and held up the last piece to her mom. "Want some?"

"…I'm fine." Raven answered while giving Yang an exasperated look. Shaking her head while Yang munched on the final piece, she turned around and took a couple of steps away. "So Vernal told you what this place is for, correct?"

"I think so." Yang said, folding her arms while adjusting her hat. "She said that it's some kind of place that you and your underlings use for sparring and stuff like that."

Raven nodded her head wordlessly. "To confirm, Yang, Qrow does not know anything about you being the Winter Maiden?" Not Tai either? No one at all?"

"Just me and Minato." Yang shrugged her shoulders. "Why?"

The black-haired female looked back to her daughter. "I want you to promise me that you will only keep that fact to yourself… your companion," She gritted out in displeasure.

"Minato." Yang stated clearly without missing a beat.

"…And me. You cannot let Ozpin, Qrow, or anyone else associated with them. The same applies for what happens in this very camp."

Yang was taken aback at the request. "Why would you want that? What's wrong with letting Ozpin or Qrow know? Isn't it a better idea to inform them since they're trying to protect the Maidens in the first place?"

"That may be, but they only want to use you as well!" Raven exclaimed. "Tell them, and you expose yourself to possible danger even larger than you may be able to handle! You will end up being nothing more than a sacrificial pawn in Ozpin's game! A game that is too dangerous for you! You're not even properly experienced yet they will want you to fight their battles!" She panted after her small outburst.

"…" Yang decided not to speak, allowing time for Raven to get herself back together. She almost pitied her mom, just thinking about how much she had to go through from being at Beacon to being back here where she considered home.

Raven managed to recover, taking in a deep breath and taking back her composure. "Why is why I'm going to show you how to properly defend yourself. So you will become stronger and defeat those who come after you."

Hearing this, the blonde looked at Raven with surprise. "But… I learned everything from dad." She said. "He's taught me so much. Are you telling me that him teaching me and even Qrow giving me tips is not enough?"

"Fighting as a huntress? Maybe." Raven answered, closing her eyes and looking down. "But for your special case, you have a lot to improve upon."

Yang looked confused while feeling cool water drop on her.

…Water?

Looking up, Yang saw that the sun was gone and that she was actually underneath a patch of dark clouds. Winds soon began to pick up, causing the blonde to look back to the ground level and watch everything be blown around. The leaves flying away suddenly stopped in their path. Frost coated the very green before the tips pointed in the general direction of Yang.

Surprised, Yang just managed to leap out of the way when all of the jagged leaves suddenly attempt to pelt her. Hearing the impact of the leaves while she rolled, Yang saw the destruction each piece of nature did before snapping her head back to her mother.

To add onto Yang's shock, Raven was hovering in the air. She acted as if nothing was happening. She was taking in deep breaths, as if controlling everything around her. "Behold, Yang…"

The black-haired female then opened her eyes, and red flames pour out around them. "This is the true potential of a Maiden."

 **Y13**

"…So the Maidens are needed for these relics that are hidden within the academies of the four Kingdoms."

Minato made sure that he had the details on hand. It started off as wondering what purpose the Maidens held. Yes, Minato did suppose that they would contain a lot of power. But with just them and Grimm, it was likely that it still was not enough. His answer however was given when Salem mentioned these relics.

Supposedly, obtaining all four would be able to give power to change humanity, Faunus-kind, maybe reality in general.

"That is correct." Salem nodded her head.

Through the explanation though, Minato felt that it was odd that Cinder and her companions (the female named Emerald and the male Mercury) were right at the table as well. Their presences he did not mind, but rather it was the gazes from them that was getting to his head.

"Your grace… why are you explaining everything to him?" Cinder asked. "Is it because he is your son? Does that mean he is going to be among our ranks?"

"No, he will not." Salem stated curtly, looking towards Cinder. "He made his choice to be the opposition against us, and you will respect his decision."

The female teen was surprised. "But… but why are you telling his everything? He's an enemy!"

All Salem had to do was narrow her red eyes and it caused the amber-eyed female to flinch. "He is of my flesh and blood, enemy or not. He wants answers, and it is my choice to tell him. Am I understood?"

Minato watched Cinder in a cowering position, the girl so scared from a single look. He then began to remember Tyrian's words. His mother's punishments were scarring.

Cinder nodded, not trusting her own voice.

"Good." The white-haired female nodded once before returning her attention to her son. "Now… I explained this to you because I thought up of something while you were asleep." She paused to make sure Minato was listening, which he was. "What if you allowed the Winter Maiden-"

"Yang." Minato corrected immediately.

"…Yang to aid us instead?" Salem finished her question, correcting herself as Minato preferred. "There will be no need to hunt her down or even bring harm to her. We only need her Maiden powers to retrieve the relic from Atlas Academy and then we will be able to leave her alone."

"No." Minato answered.

Minato soon saw that Cinder was rising from her seat. But Salem quickly raised her hand while leveling Cinder with a single glance before replying to the blue-haired boy. "Why is that?" She asked.

"I am not going to be the one responsible in allowing humanity and Faunus to be only a step closer to being wiped out. Nor do I want my girlfriend to do the same. Also, she would never accept such an offer in the first place because of your goal."

Salem exhaled. "…This is quite an issue we currently have." She said, seeing how resolved Minato was against in helping them in the slightest bit at all. Silent, she started to think. "…How about a deal?" Her question piqued her son's interest when he raised his eyebrow. "You will be tested. Succeed, and we will not go after… Yang until we successfully have the other Maidens in our power. Fail, and we are allowed to find the Winter Maiden at our own pleasure."

Minato's eyes closed halfway. "What kind of test will it be?"

"I would like to see a display of your strength since a relationship of yours will be on the line." Salem explained. Her hand then gestured over towards Cinder, Emerald, and Mercury. "Cinder and her apprentices will all be challenging you in a fight. No one is allowed to give advice or train any of you."

He started to think. This could be a good chance to allow some time for Yang to be left alone to get stronger or do her own activities. But the downside would be that if he did lose, it was almost guaranteed that she would be hunted down immediately. If Cinder, Emerald, and Mercury were all followers of Salem, they must be tough as well or else his mother possible would have never accepted them.

"…Deal." Minato eventually said, feeling like this was one of the better options that his mother had offered. He at least had to take a chance.

"Very well." Salem nodded her head. "The match between all of you will be in four days."

Minato immediately got off of his seat and walked out of the door of the room, not looking back to the faces that were staring at his back.

Walking downhill, away from the buildings, Minato eventually found himself on the very level where he remembered seeing those black tar pits where the Grimm were coming from. With the dark pools in sight, he still continued going forward.

As soon as he was within a certain distance of Grimm that had just come out, a black substance came crashing down from above in front of him. Like a wave, the stuff rose up to a great height. As soon as if fell though, Salem appeared right in front of him. "And where do you think you're going?" She asked.

"To get ready to fight against your cultists." Minato stated, hands in his pockets.

"…" Salem did not speak at first. But as Minato tried to walk past her, she grabbed the back of his collar. Darkness began to wrap around the both of them immediately after. A feeling of being airborne soon was felt between the two of them. To Minato, all he could see was black. But to Salem, she could see everything clearly and their destination.

Doors banged open when the black mass burst through. Dropping down in the center of the room, the darkness dispersed and Minato blinked in surprise due to the sudden change in environment. "…Where did you take me?" He asked, looking around to see that he was standing in some kind of arena with the outside lined by many candles.

"This place is used for training… and it will be the room used when you fight Cinder and her companions." Salem answered, walking to the other end of the room.

"…I see." Minato only said. Turning around, he was about to walk out of the doors when the barriers suddenly swung shut. Stopping, he turned around. "What was that for? Are you trying to make me lose on purpose?"

"No." Salem said. "You planned on fighting the Grimm for your training."

"If you're planning on telling me it's a bad idea, then don't." Minato replied. "I thought you said that no one else was allowed to train us or give advice."

"I'm not. I wish for you to attack me in order to see your capabilities."

Standing in place, he stared blankly at his mother. "Why is that?" He asked.

"Curiosity."

Minato sighed while shaking his head. "…Fine." He said, just wanting to start practicing already. Yang's life was on the line and he was wasting time just standing around and talking.

As he shifted in a comfortable position, he then remembered something and did not like how he was going to do what he just said he didn't want to do. "Before we start… I have a couple of things I would like to discuss."

Salem turned her head, eyeing Minato from a different angle. "Speak, my child."

"Well… I had a dream last night." Minato started off. "Not a nightmare… Just… a normal dream. I was just floating in darkness, drifting along like it was nothing. But then… I started hearing words… Eris, Geras, Philotes, Nemesis, Keres, Moirai, Hesperides, Oizys, Momus, Oneiroi, Hypnosm Keres, Moros, Hemera, Aether. But one of them stood out to me… Thanatos."

She stared, blinking. Slowly thought, she started looking down in thought. "…Those words… they were all names in an old tongue. Each of them was something that your father debated over choosing for your name. But in the end though, he had a favourite name; the name that stood out to you, Thanatos."

"…Thanatos…" Minato said quietly. Looking behind himself, he thought about is Semblance. A single, white-gloved hand shot up from the ground. Slamming itself down onto the surface, another one came up and did the same thing. As the two hands seemed to pull up, the black monster with a skull mask rose up into reality. "…Seems like a good name for this."

The summon only released a guttered grunt but did not do anything else.

"…Then why is my name Minato Arisato instead?" He then asked with a small frown of confusion.

"Your father was not there during your birth, so I decided to name you in his stead."

Minato did not know how to properly reply. "I see." It was all he could muster. But then it went to his head. "You said those are names in an old tongue. Do you and father have names like that then?"

She did not speak a word. She did not make a sound. "...Yes, we do." Her answer finally came, an internal debate finally being settled. "…I believe that is enough talking."

Minato nodded his head in agreement. He was not going to be back any missing time with asking his mother questions. Questions that needed to be answered could be retrieved later. Reaching into his pockets, he pulled out his earphones and picked a piece of music from his mp3 player.

 **(** Play **Under Night In-Birth OST: Overwhelm Despair (Hilda's Theme))**

Closing his eyes, Minato shook his head around and his blue-hair swayed with the movement. Opening his eyes, he wore a neutral expression on his face. Putting his hands into his pockets, he only stared at Salem while hunched over. His summon meanwhile, now which he dubbed Thanatos, had its hands down while it roared viciously with coffins circling above its body.

Salem was not intimidated in the slightest bit. Spreading her arms apart as far as they could as if she were playing a piano, the black ribbons holding the six offshoots of her hair began to unravel themselves. The objected then began to float evenly above her with the total difference being from the tips of her right hand to the left one. Each ribbon soon started spinning around, allowing each piece of material to fold upon itself until it formed a black circle at high speeds.

When each circle was seen, the tips of obsidian-black blades poked out from the dark objects. The weapons looked like they were pulling themselves out, the more of the weapon seen the smaller the circle became. As soon as the tip of the handles were seen, the black spiraling circles had disappeared completely. Now six blades all floated and poised their direction for Minato and Thanatos.

"Come, my son." Salem beckoned with words. "I look forward to your efforts."

 **Apologies, no Salem fight… yet. Still going to be a long way ahead. Instead Minato vs Cinder and Co next chapter.**

 **So… I attempted to give Salem a backstory… it was a thing… that happened. Not very creative if you ask me. Not complicated or anything. Tons of possible problem with it. But hey, I'm a simple guy so I'm… kind of satisfied with it? I have no idea anymore. But apparently you guys are satisfied with me portraying Salem as I am now so… I guess I'm doing a thing.**

 **Completely overshadows the fact that Raven is teach Yang how to wield her Maiden powers properly.**

 **No flames please.**


	22. Omake - A Talk and Video Games

**This is a fanfic. BUY THE FUCKING MERCHANDISE!**

With new day, another day at school. But this day had a new twist to it.

Standing outside of Signal Academy, a 15-year-old Minato Arisato (politely declining the last name Xiao Long or Branwen) was waiting at the entrance of the school. Normally, he would be waiting for Yang to arrive and they would head home together or even grocery shop before going back to the house.

But not today. Currently, it was the first day of a new school year. That meant that there was entirely new batch of children attending Signal Academy. Since Ruby was 2 years younger than him and Yang, the little sister of the blonde was going to be amongst the pack.

His back was leaning against the gate, watching the tsunami of teenage people stroll past him. Most completely ignored him, not knowing or caring about his presence. But those that gave him looks, he knew that they were in the same year as him. He recognized faces and Minato also had a bit of an infamous reputation.

The kid that was considered emo but then managed to somehow form a relationship and was going out with Yang Xiao Long. A bit of a tag that was whispered in the halls occasionally which became a nuisance if one did ask for Minato's opinion.

…What he thinking about before that? Something about waiting…

Ah, right, he was waiting for Ruby.

Which begged the question, where was she at the moment?

 **Y13**

The day was finally over.

Ruby trudged to the gates of Signal, a little bruised and weary but otherwise she thought she had covered herself well. She didn't want any of her family to worry about her.

Her first day at Signal Academy… it was terrible. None of her friends from elementary went to Signal, so she was one of the only kids that didn't know one another. She tried to initiate a conversation, just like how her sister would do so with Minato, but it yielded no positive results.

Not only that, she was teased or picked on mercilessly at the same time. She was tripped in the hallways. She was roughed up a few times by a few girls. She was mocked when she shared what kinds of interests she had.

However, despite the terrible day she was having, all of those bad feelings went straight out of the window once she caught sight of familiar blue hair at the school gates.

"Minato!" Ruby chirped up, waving her hands wildly and running towards the boy.

"Ruby." Minato nodded his head, patiently keeping his weight against the gates. He watched as the smaller girl approached him.

When she was right next to him, Minato started to turn around and lead Ruby back to their home. His step was halted as he took a double take of his charge. Very light-blue eyes narrowed as he scanned the teenager up and down. The girl with red highlights had faint bruises peppering her small form that couldn't possibly be from just mere clumsiness alone and raw pained emotion practically bleeding out of those silver orbs despite the other's best attempt to hide it.

Wordlessly, the boy frowned slightly as male fingers grabbed the girl's arm, dragging her roughly to an unknown direction.

"Minato?"

"Be quiet Ruby."

Ruby flinched slightly at the curt, cold tone. She barely ever heard Minato ever like that recently. In fact, there was perhaps never a time when she was with him did the boy ever even speak so harshly. Was… Minato angry? Why would he be like that? Ruby didn't understand why.

There was a tense silence between the two until finally the male had found a place that satisfied him. Silently they went in, ordered a table for two while telling them something, and ungraciously pulled the confused rather scared girl onto a chair. Looking at their surroundings, Ruby realized that they were in a café. Now she was just plain confused.

"Minato, I don-"

"Ruby, I want you to tell me the truth." Minato seated himself but leaned forward so they were at eye level. His voice was low and slightly gravelly but the strange thing was there was no trace of the usual boy's neutral tone. It was all so suddenly serious that the female just wordlessly nodded much to the other's satisfaction.

"Good. Now – are you being… bullied?"

Ruby's figure froze for a second. She didn't want to tell the truth. It was like admitting how weak, how pathetic she was. Unable to fight back against measly words and simple harassment.

It was simply humiliating.

Minato saw that Ruby was biting her lip to stop tears that threatened to escape. He sighed and softened his gaze. His right hand hovered hesitantly over the girl's shoulder before rather gently resting it on her, giving a slight squeeze as he did so. "Ruby…" He started off. "…It's okay. If you think I'll think badly of you, I won't. So…"

But the teenage girl wouldn't speak… Or she couldn't. It was like the words had knotted together and gotten stuck at the back of her throat. Any attempt to say it felt like there were little hands scraping her brain in an attempt to stop her. She didn't know what it was, but something had overridden everything.

Minato made some sort of gurgling strangled sound that seemed to be a mix of a sigh and a groan of frustration. Ruby was not talking, and that was a bad sign. He was trying to figure out how to approach the situation now, since being blunt about it was not working.

"Ruby… if it makes you feel any better…" He started talking again, scratching his blue hair almost uncomfortably if the girl didn't know better. "I know what it's like. I was singled out for many things. A lot of the time because of how I looked and or acted."

Ruby immediately caught onto the message. But it was also obvious since Minato practically did tell her what she already knew but was now reminded. "People were… mean to you too?"

The blue-haired figure scratched the back of his neck, eyes looking down at the table. He kept himself from actually falling over though due to using both hands again to support his body. "…Yeah, people were… mean to me." Minato worded his answer to slightly mimic Ruby's question.

"Th-they called you names?"

"Yeah."

"They made fun of your mistakes?"

"Yeah." Minato's eyes narrowed and teeth uncharacteristically gritted, not because of embarrassment but to hold back some anger for the one he was in charge of at the moment. His days of being harassed were long over but he could still remember the bad feelings and helplessness. It was not pleasing to him that Ruby was experiencing the same thing.

"A-and they tried to take your clothes too?"

"Y-" Minato almost answered immediately. But then his mind caught himself in an instant. Slowly looking up, he stared neutrally. But really, it was taking most of his effort to keep a straight face. "I'm sorry. What?" He asked with a bit of edge to his tone.

Ruby blushed nervously, her large eyes still glittering but no longer threatening to overflow with tears. That fact however did not sooth Minato's negative feelings at the moment. "They… ah… said they… didn't believe I was a girl…" The female murmured timidly.

Minato wondered for about a second of Yang, Qrow, and Tai were all becoming an influence to him. Inwardly he was swearing all the obscenities he had heard toward the high-school pervs for ever trying to think of stripping the girl. Telling a teacher or any other adult authority was going to be a second thing to do. The first thing was most likely going to have to teach those kids a vital lesson in pain and common sense.

He even forced himself to unclench his hands on the table because with anymore force in them he would end up breaking his own fingers at this rate.

"Ruby. Did they… succeed?" Minato managed to get out.

The girl with red highlighted hair tilted her head to the side, raising an eyebrow. "Why is that important?"

So it would tell Minato determine something. Whether he and his Semblance beat the bastards half to death first; or get Yang to beat and burn them half dead before stuffing them inside his Semblance's coffins to toss them into Grimm-infested waters! "Because Ruby… Just because."

Ruby tilted her head to the other side in thought before nodding and letting it go. Nope! I kicked them away and waved around a knife Qrow secretly gave me! You should have seen their faces!" The girl smiled proudly.

"…" Minato immediately made a mental note to both scold and then maybe praise the man later for giving Ruby that knife.

…The others really were rubbing off on him.

Both looked at each other, light-blue/grey and silver staring into each other intently. Then those silver eyes flashed beautifully and Ruby smiled just as brightly. Despite the darkening bruises peppered on her skin and the ugly scrapes decorating her at that moment to Minato, the girl was glowing.

Getting off of her seat, Ruby shuffled over to the other side of the table. Hoisting herself up to the chair next to Minato, she then hugged the boy when she sat down. Minato had his arms raised, surprised at the sudden action. But he eventually wrapped one arm around her shoulder and pulled her in with a bit of an awkward look on his face.

When Minato released her, Ruby blinked after a few seconds before realizing that she should let go as well.

At that moment, a waitress came up holding a tray full of consumables that looked like they were completely full of sugar. "One strawberry shortcake, one milk, and a root beer float all right here." She informed the two of them, placing the tray down to distribute the plates. "Is there anything I missed or you need?"

Minato shook his head, politely declining. Ruby meanwhile was just staring in awe at the size of the cake and drinks they received. "Is… is this really for us?" She questioned as the one who had served them walked away.

"You looked like you needed something to cheer you up." Minato simply replied back, dragging the glass of milk in front of himself while beginning to cut up the cake. It probably was not the greatest idea to feed Ruby a large amount of cake in the middle of the afternoon before dinner. But he could consider giving her one or two slices for a snack. Maybe three if he were feeling generous. The rest would have to be leftover for everyone else.

When Ruby saw that Minato had taken the milk, she assumed the root beer float was for her. Shrugging her shoulders, she began to consume the combination of soda and ice-cream.

"Hey everyone, check it out, it's the red-hooded nerd."

Ruby was too busy enjoying her drink and food, so Minato was the one to look over. "…" He decided not to say anything, seeing that there was a small group consisting of boys and girls looking like they had just come from a stereotype punk themed boutique.

"Look at her." Another one attempted a verbal jab. "Completely ignoring us. How could she do that to her new friends?" One seemed to mock.

"Hah, think she's trying to eat her worries away?" There was a third taunt.

…What was the first option Minato was going to do again? Ah, right. He was going to beat the bullies black and blue.

But before he could even move, Ruby suddenly grabbed the pepper shaker and smashed it right against of the heads among the group. Right after, without giving anyone time to respond or even comprehend what had happened, she then grabbed the salt shaker before jumping into the air and slamming it against another bully.

Rushing over to what looked like a counter full of condiments, she squirted some mustard into a container and ran back to cram it into a third face. No one still had the time to even know what was going on before Ruby went back and forth to suddenly splash several packets of vinegar on a fourth person.

"PEPPER, SALT, MUSTARD, VINEGAR!" Ruby chanted in an extremely hyper speed with an energetic tone in time with each respected condiment used. Standing back up on her chair all of a sudden, she had her hands on her hips and chest puffed out as if she were a superior person. "WHEN I'M THROUGH, YOU'LL ALL BE SKINNIER!"

A single battle cry escaped her lips immediately before leaping into the group and proceeded to beat them up.

Minato watched with his face seeming to be just the slightest bit bewildered. Ruby zipped all around the punks, punching, kicking, even biting them viciously. He tried to think about what could have caused Ruby to quickly change attitudes from content to hyper, energetic and a bit crazy.

Ruby rushed back to her table and grabbed her drink. "BEWARE, EVIL BULLIES, FOR I AM THE ROSE OF JUSTICE!" She yelled before chugging the rest of what was in the glass. Slamming the object down, she wiped her mouth with her sleeve then pointed dramatically with that exact arm. "NOW FEEL MY PRICK!"

As Minato just continued to watch Ruby laugh maniacally while becoming a blur of rose petals, it began to click.

Ruby was drinking a root beer float…

A root beer float…

Root beer…

Soda.

* * *

"Hey Minato, girls, I bought you a new game!"

Tai's presence and intentions were known through the Xiao Long (and Arisato all but Minato argued) household as he walked through the door. Several footsteps were heard going down the stairs. Ruby was faster, being the first one already on the ground floor. Yang was second and Minato was third due to their moderate pacing.

"Ooh, what did you get, what did you get, what did you get?" Ruby asked, stuck on repeat in an eager fashion.

Reaching into a bag, Tai pulled out a game case. "I got Blazeblue Cross Tag Battle!"

"That's so awesome!" Ruby snatched the object from Tai's hands.

"Oi, Rubes, let me have a look too!" Yang chimed in as well, trying to get a good view of their new game.

Minato meanwhile did not crowd around the two girls, but instead walked up until he was a foot away from Tai. "Thanks." He nodded his head.

Tai only smiled. "No problem. Just look at it though. Yeah, Blazblue is in it. The Under Night In Birth cast is better though. But the absolutely best part is that my girls are in it: And all of your favourite Persona characters!"

As soon as Tai said that, both girl stopped fighting over holding the case and looked over towards Tai with blank eyes. "…Then why isn't Minato in this game?" Yang deadpanned.

"…Umm…" Tai looked at Minato awkwardly while the boy just shrugged his shoulders. "Your favourite characters from Persona 4?"

"Then why is Aigis in the cast?" Ruby replied dully.

"…Okay, you girls and Minato have fun now! I've got work so I won't be here for dinner!"

No one could even reply and Tai was suddenly out of the door. "Well, who wants to go first then?" Yang asked, holding up the case so that Ruby couldn't grab it. "I'll set up the game."

"I call dibs on playing!" Ruby exclaimed. "I'm just going to grab some snacks for us!"

As the red-hooded girl rushed into the kitchen, Minato walked over to help Yang boot up the game. It was an extremely simple process. But in the middle of getting everything ready, Minato heard a loud belch in the kitchen followed by the sound of clattering metal.

Curious, he walked over and almost had Ruby splat face first onto his body. Watching the two girls, Minato peeked into the kitchen. In the middle of the floor, he saw Zwei licking a small puddle that had a few bubbles in it.

"…This can't be good." Minato said to himself.

 **Y13**

Minato just decided to watch, seeing how intense Yang and Ruby got when playing competitive video games against one another. He thought about interfering at first, but his suggestion was answered with two controllers being smacked in his face.

He could practically hear their thumbs moving around at such high speed and coordination that he could almost say he was impressed at the display… What they were saying though… was basically them a bit too immersed into the game.

"Hah! Hoo hoo, huah!" Ruby breathed, as if she were the one attacking. Watching herself go around on screen, she made a quick motion with her thumbs. "Rifle shot!"

Yang meanwhile was being surprisingly quiet at the moment, seeming to be incredibly focused.

"Tri-pod!" Ruby exclaimed, using her special move. Unfortunately for her, Yang had herself on screen jump over the attack and end up behind Ruby before using a super.

"Can you take this?!" Yang asked, when her super was hitting Ruby. "Well?!"

"Ow! Guh! Shit! Augh! God damn it! Fuck! Ow!" Ruby swore up a storm as she was getting hit from Yang's super. It was not a good situation for her considering that she only had one character left while Yang still had her two. Continuously grunting in frustration, Ruby took a quick peek at her health bar. "No, I need to live!" She exclaimed, seeing how she practically had no health left and that there was only a red bar which was her regenerative health.

Seeing how she was still assaulted, Ruby quick initiated a push block. With a quick tap on her controller, Ruby activated her powered-up state. "Let's resonance this shit, bitch! Hah, huah, hah!" Ruby made her character zip all over the screen, trying to eventually catch Yang.

A couple of seconds later, Ruby saw that Yang had called out an assist. But that was a fatal mistake. Yang also realized it as well, so she quickly tired to change partners. The blonde did succeed in switching, but her original character was still left in the open.

"Screw your ice shard!" Ruby exclaimed, hitting both of Yang's characters at the same time while beginning a deadly combo. "Happy birthday, bitches!" Her button mashing was actually a proper string of attacks as she almost killing her sister's team. "Eat my god damn Crescent Rose!" She shouted while doing her super.

[Down!] The game exclaimed, showing that one of Yang's characters had just died.

Ruby exhaled in a disturbingly calm manner. "Let's do this…" She muttered to herself, waiting for her sister's last character to go in. She waited for the perfect timing… and then… "Hey Yang, everyone only likes your character because you look like a slut!"

"What?!" Yang exclaimed, taking her eyes off of the screen to glare at Ruby with red eyes that promised pain.

At the same time, Yang's character came flying across the screen. Ruby knew this was coming though, and commanded a jump so that the hit would miss her. Hitting the character, Ruby quickly did another motion. "Oh, I am so top-tier!" She yelled as her character's instant kill began to play out. "RUBY ROSE DOESN'T LOSE!"

[Astral Finish! Ruby! Blake! Win!]

"Haha!" Ruby laughed, grinning like an idiot. She then looked over to her side and saw that Yand was still glaring at her. "…Uh oh…"

 **Y13**

A new round had started, and Yang had blown off all of the steam she needed after that pervious fight.

It wasn't anything Ruby couldn't handle.

In the middle of this new fight, Yang was dominating. Sure, one of her characters was badly hurt, but she currently had herself out there, and she was absolutely wrecking.

"This is too easy!" Yang exclaimed, killing Ruby's first character.

As there were two characters on the screen once more, the both of them kept on inputting jump commands. "Holy shit, I keep forgetting how much range your Crescent Rose has!" Yang stated, jumping backwards as Ruby was being aggressive.

Calling for an assist, Yang made her character go over and past Ruby. Ruby however blocked the attack properly. Tapping Ruby with a light attack, Yang then inputted her command grab and put Ruby into the corner. "This is over!" Yang exclaimed, tapping the normal attack buttons before activating super.

But her attack didn't come out when the command grab animation was still happening. When Yang had activated her super, Ruby's character was already recovered. Quickly, she activated her partner's super so her main character could escape.

Ruby blocked that attack as well. She then quickly activated resonance and used a super of her own. "Eat my Crescent Rose again!"

"NOOOOOOOOO!" Yang roared, watching her characters being absolutely demolished due to another mistake she had made. "Oh god, shit, god, she's so angry!"

[Down!] The game announced, Yang's partner dying because of the blonde.

"Oh god, where's my character?" The blonde's eyes quickly darted around the screen. She then saw her character get up and activate their powered up state. Yang immediately activated resonance in order to recover some health.

It was one on one again, the two of them had to be careful. Both of their characters were in resonance, which meant they each had enough power and resources to kill one another.

"Fuck…" Yang mumbled to herself, moving back and forth on the ground. "Fuck-fuck-fuck- Got you, bitch!"

Being wary, Yang forced her character to run forward. Hoping Ruby would continue to block, Yang had her character grab Ruby's. Her cheer came from the result watching her punch Ruby in the game. But it wasn't over yet. "Here it comes!" Yang then inputted the same motions Ruby did last match.

The blonde's character suddenly started absolutely beating Ruby's in a series of painful punches that just did not stop. "NOW EAT SHIT AND DIE, YOU!" She absolutely roared at the TV.

[Astral Finish! Yang! Weiss! Win!]

Yang then grabbed Ruby by her collar and dragger her up to her face. "VIDEO GAAAMES!" She then shoved Ruby back onto the couch while chuckling evilly. "Take that, Ruby! I'll have a drink. You know what I want."

Growling, Ruby got up off of the couch while grumbling angrily to herself. As the red-hooded girl went into the kitchen, Yang patted the seat where her sister used to sit. "Come on, Minato, let's go a couple of rounds."

"…" Minato looked at the spot previously occupied by Ruby before eyeing Yang. "Was that really necessary to say to Ruby?" He asked, sitting down and grabbing the controller.

"Ah, don't worry. We both just like to trash talk each other when we play against each other." Yang reminded the blue-haired male. She then went back to the character selection menu before looking over to the kitchen door. "Oh, Ruby," She sang. "Your saltiness is making me thirsty!"

What came next completely caught Yang and Minato by surprise.

"THERE'S MORE TO LIFE THAN YOUR PATHETIC WIMPY, FANCY DRINK! AND YOU KNOW WHAT?! YOUR LUST FOR THIS DRINK IS MAKING ME ANGRY! YOU WON'T LIKE IT WHEN I'M ANGRY! I GET HORNY – I START TO MASTURBATE – AND I CUM ALL OVER THE PLACE! THE FLUIDS JUST SPRAYING ABSOLUTELY EVERYWHERE! YOU SEE THESE WALLS?! WELL THEY'RE NOT GOING TO BE BROWN ANYMORE – I'LL PAINT THEM WHITE… WITH MY CUM!"

"…" Silently, Minato started to hide his face in his hands while groaning. He could have gone through his life without ever hearing that monologue but life had to mess with him.

Yang on the other hand. "…You make a good point." She nodded her head. "I'll have a chocolate milk."

"NOW THAT'S MORE LIKE IT!"

 **AHAHAH! I LIED! IT'S REALLY A RANDOM OMAKE YOU ALL FIND DISGUSTING! And yes, soda is deadly when given to the wrong person.**

 **No flames please.**


	23. Chapter 23

**This is a fanfic. BUY THE FUCKING MERCHANDISE!**

It was finally that day for Minato to face off against Cinder and her companions.

After four days of physically and mentally preparing himself for the fight, the blue-haired male did not want to take any risks at all.

Exhaling, Minato looked up and down to the doors that led to the arena where he would enter combat. Putting his hand on the wooden barrier, he didn't push at first. Putting his hand down, Minato fished around in his pocket to find his two earphones. Hooking them up around the appropriate areas, he finally pushed the door open.

The sound of creaking was deafening on the inside of the structure. The noise easily bounced all over the walls since there was the massive corridor before the actual circle area. Taking a few steps forward after entering, he ignored the sound of the closing doors in favor of proceeding in the direction he had in mind.

Arriving to the circular area, Minato saw that everyone was waiting for him. Salem, Tyrian, Hazel, and Watts were right between the corridor and the arena. Cinder, Emerald and Mercury meanwhile were on one side of the area.

Just as Minato passed the adults, he stopped in his tracks. Turning his head, he stared before eventually nodding. "Mother." He greeted before looking to everyone else and then gave the common curtesy. "Hazel. Tyrian. Watts."

Watts did not visibly react. Tyrian waved with a grin. Hazel nodded his head silently.

Salem nodded her head too but responded verbally as well. "Minato." She greeted the blue-haired boy right back. Her arms were folded behind her back while taking a step forward to be properly in front of him. "Are you prepared for your test?"

A single nod of his head was all he gave her. But that answer was more than enough for Salem as she gestured with her hand for him to proceed. Looking forward, Minato started walking to the opposite side of the arena.

The candles that lit the building flickered, causing everyone's shadow to dance in anticipation. While Minato got to his spot with hands in his pockets, he faced off against Cinder and her companions.

"Hmph," The grey-haired Mercury snickered while putting his hands to his hips. "It's already easy enough for us with this fight being three-on-one. But you don't even look like anything special." He taunted. "Especially since you're supposed to be super important."

Minato did not say anything to enlighten Mercury. The way Minato reacted only seemed to irritate the grey-haired male.

"Give it up, Mercury." The green-haired Emerald only rolled her eyes. "Your insults just show how much of a brain you lack."

"Both of you," Cinder spoke up, causing the two fighters behind her to stiffen. As the black-haired female narrowed her eyes, she turned her head. "Save your breaths for the fight. Even with his appearances, do not judge a book by it's cover. You said it yourself, Mercury. Minato here is important. Important enough for her grace to be generous towards him."

Just like with Mercury, Minato did not speak a word. Breathing in and out, he made sure to keep himself level headed while staring forward. He was taking this precious time to see what he could figure out from those three fighters.

Minato should at least suspect that all three of them were skilled as well. From what he could tell, Mercury was all about close-quarters combat judging by the boots that were on the grey-haired teen's feet. Such apparel seemed to even have shotgun ammunition hooked up.

Emerald meanwhile had a pair of revolvers holstered on her back. That couldn't be it. While people did use firearms alone sometimes, it was kind of rare. There was something else to those weapons and Minato had to be careful.

Cinder meanwhile had two swords on her back with a few arrows as well. This was odd to him. If the swords were there, where was the bow for the arrows? Either way, he knew that Cinder was going to be a large problem with her powers of a Maiden at her disposal.

"All of you, prepare yourselves."

Hearing these words, everyone looked towards Salem with the rest of the adults behind her. Seeing how she now had their attention, she spoke once more. "When I say so, you may begin. The victor will be decided if one side surrenders, is knocked out, or when I believe the answer is clear."

Being told that the fight was about to begin, Minato reached over to his mp3 player. Shuffling through his musical library, he kept on skipping tune after tune until he finally found one he liked for the occasion.

 **(** Play **Dragon Ball FighterZ OST – Goku Black's Theme)**

Minato then just put his right hand in his pocket and stood in place, eyes concentrated and not wavering to his opponents.

"Start."

Snapping his left hand forward, Minato fired a single shot from his gauntlet right towards the opposition towards the leader of their group. But his opponents didn't move. Rather than be hit by the slug, the bullet passed right through Cinder. When that happened, the three of them just vanished right before his eyes.

The sudden action surprised Minato, catching him off-guard. Stepping back, he then moved his head back and forth to see where they had gone. But he couldn't see them. Only with instinct however, he quickly bent his legs to duck down. Looking up at the same time, he saw that Mercury soared over him with a flying kick.

Minato punched the floor while firing his gauntlet to stand back up straight quickly, using the top of his head to smash right against Mercury's body. But Minato was not fast enough as the grey-haired boy used his hands to soften the impact and flip around to his feet.

Just as soon as Mercury hit the ground though, he vanished. Blinking, Minato soon felt the bottom of a boot smash right against his face. Leaning back due to the sudden impact, Minato managed to retain his footing. But then multiple impacts to the same area followed. Swiping with his left hand to try and grab Mercury, the boy proved to be elusive once again by kicking off Minato's face and flipping over.

When Mercury landed back on the floor, he quickly spun around to sweep Minato off his feet. Only when he the leg hit the blue-haired teen's, Minato didn't flinch at all. Now it was Mercury's turn to be surprised as he looked up to see that Minato was not even fazed by the attack to the face.

But as Minato raised his right hand, he felt something wrap around his neck. Immediately feeling a sensation of choking, Minato move his right hand down to his neck to feel several chains were the source of his sudden loss of air. Eyeing downwards while wiggling his fingers around to help him breathe properly, he saw that a green blade was hanging from the end.

…Ahh, so that's the secret about that Emerald girl's weapons.

So that meant that she was the one choking him.

While Emerald continued to pull with digging her heels into Minato's shoulders, she saw Mercury get back up. Looking at each other, they knew that it was the perfect time to take advantage while Minato was busy. But rather than feel resistance to her method, Emerald soon saw that the blue-haired boy's hands were not on his neck. They were instead pointing at Mercury.

For the grey-haired boy, he saw this action and quickly moved out of the way when Minato fire two shots.

Emerald on the other hand, felt herself moving with Minato as the boy had not only leapt back, but also used the guns on his gauntlets to launch himself back with some power. Before she knew it, Emerald felt Minato's head slam right against her pelvis while her back painfully hit a wall.

Minato took in a deep breath through his nostrils. Just before exhaling though, he felt Emerald's feet slip off his shoulder. Snapping his right arm up, the hand gripped around something that Minato suspected to be a collar for clothing before slamming Emerald down onto the ground and kicking in right into Mercury.

Craning his neck around to pop the air bubbles inside, he worked on unraveling the links around his neck. Keeping his eyes on the competition, he suddenly saw that Cinder was standing near the pair of bodies that were getting back up.

Now that made Minato raise an eyebrow. At first, she was unseen around the battlefield. Now, she was just around like it was nothing. That could probably mean that the invisibility thing was not Cinder's doing. Considering how Mercury did not approach him invisible either when he was handling Emerald, that would maybe mean all that disappearing was done by the green-haired girl.

Lifting his foot, he pressed his foot against the wall. He then paused. Minato remembered that candles lines the walls. Rather than smelling smoke due to his pants being on fire, he smelt nothing.

Looking back, he saw that darkness was rippling around where his foot rested. Tilting his head, he then looked over to where Salem stood. His mom only looked back at him neutrally, but Minato knew that she was the one creating a barrier.

Tapping his foot against the barrier repeatedly, in increased the force with every hit. Eventually, Minato tried kicking the obstruction as hard as he could. Didn't really do anything to affect it.

Minato then stood in place, comprehending what he had just done. Hitting something as hard as he could to see what would happen. That was totally something Yang would pull off. That thought immediately snapped his mind back to attention.

Looking back up, Minato saw his vision filled with fire. Covering his face with his arms, Minato quickly rolled out of the way and out of the flames. When his eyesight cleared up, he saw that flame still lingered on his now burned clothing. Patting himself off quickly, he looked over to only raise his gauntlet to stop a sword from hitting his neck.

"Hmm…" Cinder only hummed in interest, seeing how Minato managed to block her weapon just after coming out of fire and distinguishing flames. That meant he had a sharp and despite his rather lax appearance. "You are very impressive." She then complimented aloud. "It's very-"

Minato shut her up by slamming his forehead right against her face.

Stumbling back, Cinder groaned at the pain. Raising her hand to her stinging face, she growled while gently rubbing the sore area. "…Right… No more pleasantries then."

Stepping back, Cinder disappeared once again.

Minato exhaled loudly in response, rolling his left fingers which created popping noises before flexing the right hand.

Climbing into existence from his shadow came the monster that would come whenever he needed it, or it was unstable. The beast, which Minato now dubbed as Thanatos, only made a rumbling noise with its throat while it looked around with Minato.

From out of nowhere, gunfire was heard. Thanatos dragged Minato behind its body, taking each bullet in his direction. Roaring, the monster lunged forward. But when it landed in the area it suspected the attack was coming from, it suddenly stopped and looked around.

From the side, Minato over then up to see Mercury suddenly in the air and planting two feet right against the blue-haired teen's face and gunshots released from the boots. Due to the shot, Minato rubbed his eyes in a distracted manner. Mercury meanwhile placed his feet right against the barrier of the arena and released another shot. With the momentum, Mercury landed another blow against Minato with both his boots.

Thanatos looked over to see the assault Minato was under. But as it turned, it felt a bullet ricochet off its skull-like helmet. Snapping its head around in the direction of the bullet, it continued to look around for the nuisance.

Minato moved around, trying to be able to shoot or catching Mercury. But the grey-haired male proved to be a lot quickly and acrobatic than he thought.

The three on one advantage was being a lot tougher than Minato expected.

While snapping his arms back and forth to shoot Mercury, Minato had a bad feeling suddenly. Looking behind him, Cinder was speeding up to his body. Swinging his arm because she was too close, the female slid under his haymaker. Moving her arms, the debris the was caused because of his shooting began to glow.

Looking around, he saw all the rocks and rubble float in the air and compress together with red head being a good way to make sure they stuck. Having a feeling he knew what was going to happen, Minato crossed his arms in front of his face and caused black smoke to pour off the limbs.

The sudden display of darkness off his body made Salem frown a bit.

As the combined debris began to pelt Minato, some of them were held back by the dark miasma. Throwing his arms out right after, he threw the projectiles everywhere. Fortunately, one of them apparently hit Emerald. The green-haired girl suddenly was thrown back into existence and was on the ground while clutching her side.

Thanatos immediately saw the female and went for her. Just as Emerald got back up, she saw the monster charging towards her. Quickly trying to roll away, Thanatos caught her by the foot. Yanking her back while letting go, the beast only caught her again by the collar of her clothing before headbutting her and throwing her right against the barrier of the arena.

Minato leaned back to avoid his neck being slashed by Cinder's before raising his arm to block the blade coming for his side. Snapping his arm forward, his punch struck Cinder right against her stomach and knocked her away.

Mercury however came charging in right after to take advantage of Minato. But when Minato felt the male kicked his chest, he grabbed the boot, swung his arm around, and slammed Mercury against the floor. Turning around, he did the same thing.

Before he could do it a third time though, the floor beneath him began to get hot before he found himself being consumed by fire.

Thanatos watched as a bruised Emerald tried to crawl away. Stepping over to the girl, he bent over and slowly reach for her with cursed, gloved hands. Looking back, the green-haired girl gasped in terror when she saw that she was about to be grabbed by the monster yet again.

But then its hand went right through her.

Making a confused growl, Thanatos brought its hand back while flexing it back and forth while it seemed to wonder what was happening to it. Looking over to Minato, the monster suddenly roared before it started to fade like a ghost.

As Cinder smirked in victory, thinking it was her win due to the pillar of fire she created. With eyes surrounded by an orange mask of energy, she put her hands down. As soon as she did though, Minato came charging forward towards Cinder.

Cinder however didn't seem to mind this. Grabbing her blades, she swung them around. Minato deflected one, but the felt the second one cut his side.

Looking down, he saw the area in which he felt the attack bleed.

Feeling a hand be placed against his stomach, he looked down and saw that Cinder's palm was on his body and glowing orange. A hot sensation began to spread before an explosion detonated and caused him to fly upwards and hit the top of the building.

Falling limply, Minato hit the floor on his stomach without anything to break his fall. Upon impact, one of his headphones dislodged off his ear and rolled in front of him. Grunting in discomfort, Minato began to reach over to grab the device.

Cinder's heel then hovered over the object and crushed it right after.

 **(End Song)**

Minato froze at the sight of the destroyed earphone. His left arm still hovered in the air when he tired to grab it. Seeing twitching motions, his eyes shifted over to see that the limb was shaking. Unsure of what to make of it, he then looked over to the broken thing under the heel.

New images started to play before his eyes suddenly. Yang reached down into her shirt to pull out a small parcel wrapped up in black and yellow paper. The grin on her face when he discovered what he had opened. The blush on her cheeks when he confessed after receiving his present being followed by repeated smiles.

Wrapping his left hand into a fist, he slammed it against the ground to shoot up and try to punch Cinder. But the female dodged. Reaching into his burned jacket, Minato tossed out two sets of sniper ammunition held together by a metal strip. Chambers popped open under his gauntlets as he slammed the open ends against his chest, catching both sets of bullets and reloading his weapon at the same time.

But the fatigue, lack of Aura, and set amount of blood loss was taking a toll on his body. It led to Cinder easily stepping forward, placing a hand against his chin. "You don't know when to quit, do you?" She asked with a taunting smile. "It's almost adorable."

One second later, she caused another explosion to knock him up.

Flying, Minato gritted his teeth. He was at least confident that he had done serious damage to them. If he hadn't kept Thanatos focused on hunting Emerald, maybe things could have worked out. All of them were weakened severely. He just needed some thing to give him a boost of adrenaline or something.

Landing on the floor, facing away from Cinder and company, Minato suddenly heard something bouncing on the ground.

Looking forward, he saw the crystal from when he first arrived clatter around before it rolled right in front of his face.

Minato suddenly found himself mesmerized by the object. It… was calling out to him. There was a connection that he never knew was there but now it was clear. Instincts roared inside of him, taking over any rationality he had before suddenly. But he didn't even notice the change.

Grabbing the crystal, Minato shoved it into his mouth; gnashing and crunching the gem into bits before swallowing.

His body then went cold when another pillar of orange fire covered his body.

With her arms extended, Cinder was now sure that this helped settle her victory. Confident, she turned to face Salem. But it looked at if the white-haired being had not been focusing on the fight for the entire time. There was a frown that clearly showed something was on her mind and she did not like it.

"…Your grace…" Cinder spoke up, causing Salem to look at her slowly.

Salem seemed to stare at the girl. "Yes, Cinder, what is it?"

Cinder went quiet, thinking about what to say. "…It is my victory, is it not? Did I not win against your son?"

To that, Salem frowned once more. "…No…" She eventually answered. "I fear that this fight is not yet over." Turning her head, she faced Minato's body.

…At least where Minato's body should be. Instead, a single black puddle laid where flesh should be. The tar-like substance began to bubble suddenly, as if it were alive.

A black hand suddenly shot up from the puddle and slammed onto the floor.

"…Oohhh…" Tyrian took a step back with wide eyes and a faltering voice. "…That's not good."

Salem looked behind her to the three adults. "Watts." She said curtly, as if about to order the man around.

"I'm already on it." The mustached-male said, already halfway down the corridor in a jog before turning into a bit of a run.

"Hazel, Tyrian, help him search." Salem told the other two men who both nodded and quickly ran after Watts.

"…What's going on?" Emerald asked slowly, seeing how the four adults almost seemed to be… scared.

Salem didn't answer the question. Instead she gestured them towards her. "The three of you, over here, now." She commanded. "I've put the barrier down for you all to come towards me."

"Your grace-"

"Now, Cinder!"

The girl flinched at the tone and volume used to her. "Come on." She said as the three teenagers rushed towards the white-haired entity.

As soon as they reached Salem's side, she extended both of her hands. With her face scrunched up in concentration, the barrier that was originally transparent began to glow dim.

While it looked like Salem was giving all her attention to the barrier, that led to Cinder, Emerald, and Mercury all looking towards the puddle everyone feared.

They had already seen the black hand at first. But the limb started to spasm. Hearing flesh rip, bone began to grow out of the dark limb. But the hard material suddenly started knitting together while thinning out to form a white glove. A second hand made of darkness came out and repeated the process just like the first one.

With a heave, the hands pushed the body they were connected to out of the suffocating, thick liquid. Not a single drop of the gunk however dripped off the body that was absorbing the substance. Eventually, only the legs were left to appear. Just like the gloves, flesh ripping and bone knitting for white boots to form.

Sickening crunches echoed through the arena. The skull-like helm, white like bone, grew out of the head of the beast. Bending over, the back suddenly started exploding in a shower of black gore. The darkness started forming separate groups before molding into man-sized coffins that arced over its back in a twisted parody of wings. The boxes of the dead surrounded the shoulders like a ring of shields. A single sword strapped to its waist was more than enough to add to the savage image.

There was nothing new to it though. It still looked exactly like Thanatos.

But as Thanatos stood up straight, something fell forward and out of the front-half of its body.

Hunched forward was Minato without a single scratch or bruise on his body. But rather than the burned and torn clothing from before, his wardrobe had suddenly changed into something rather simple.

A tight, short-sleeved black t-shirt covered the upper-half of his body which made it almost seem the clothing had melted onto his body. Both of his hands were stuffed in a pair of black pants that were being held up by a black belt with a silver buckle. On his feet were a pair of white shoes with black bottoms as well steeled toes and heels.

Thanatos soon started melting. While the monster took on liquid form, it shaped itself as well before eventually spreading on the ground and becoming Minato's shadow.

 **(** Play **Guilty Gear Xrd SIGN – [Ride The Fire])**

Suddenly arching his back, Minato released a bone-chilling cackle.

 **Uh… yeah.**

 **Before any of you complain, let me say some things in my defense.**

 **Minato losing? He's the same power and skill as Yang in this fic now. Do you think Yang at 16 would be able to face off against Cinder, Emerald, and Mercury all at the same time? If she couldn't, neither could Minato here.**

 **Those things for the last moments? Yang was training with Raven to control her Maiden powers and utilize them to their fullest potential. What's wrong with giving Minato a 'power boost' to stay close to Yang's power levels? Yes, I had that planned since having the idea that Minato was Salem's son. This includes the stuff you will see next chapter…**

 **Whenever the heck it's coming out.**

 **I know most of you already will not like the sudden change in Minato's attitude for that last moment. Trust me, it won't last long.**

 **...Not sure if I should say this or not... But someone actually made some fanart of this fic. So major thanks to Aeso3 for making such a picture. It'** **s pretty cute. You guys should check it out.**

 **No, I'm not going to post a link. Just search it up the artist's name on devianart.**

 **No flames please.**


	24. Chapter 24

**This is a fanfic. BUY THE FUCKING MERCHANDISE!**

 **(** Play **Guilty Gear Xrd SIGN – [Ride the Fire])**

Cinder and her apprentices flinched when Minato suddenly slammed himself right against the barrier that Salem was conjuring up.

It didn't stop there however. Minato only continued to attack the barrier with his head, legs, and left hand relentlessly. One would at least expect a pause or for him to catch his breath due to so much strength in each move. The blue-haired boy did not appear to be getting tired at all.

There were also his eyes. His light-blue eyes that was almost calming for his bland nature. They had changed. Been warped. Twisted. Such pieces of flesh now were insane, bringing chills to anyone brought within their sight. It didn't help that he was grinning as well.

Minato's pupils were focused straight on Cinder, Emerald, and Mercury.

Salem meanwhile did not look pleased in the slightest. With a grunt that was barely audible, she applied more power into the invisible shield she was creating. Noticing that her son was focused on something behind her, she turned her head and saw his targets. "Cinder," Her voice caused the female to sharply intake a single breath before looking. "I advise you to retreat and hide from Minato."

Cinder seemed shocked by this order. But then looked at the white-skinned being before looking at Minato, she suppressed the urge to shiver in fear. "Emerald, Mercury, we're leaving."

As the three teenagers turned around, Minato seemed to stop his assault against the invisible wall. His wild flailing ceased. Raising an eyebrow, he turned around and held his chin in his left hand. "Huh…" He grunted, looking down onto the floor while tapping his right foot. "Hmm…" His hum came next, as if he were thinking. "Hnn…" Bringing his right hand out of his pocket, he continued to think before he grew a grin. "Heheh!"

Holding up his right fist, the flesh was suddenly covered in black tar. His head was turned slightly over, just giving Salem a glance of a mischievous gleam in Minato's eye. The boy suddenly spun around and punched the barrier with his right side.

Like glass, the barrier shattered, and Minato didn't waste a second to chase after Cinder and her companions.

Salem tried to stop the boy. Unfortunately for her, she didn't think about how fast he could be. Taken by surprise at the power he displayed, she watched for a second before having to chase down Minato.

Mercury was the first one to be Minato's victim.

Just as the three villainous teenagers made it to the door, Minato had tackled the grey-haired boy. Rolling out into the open path that with the background of a wasteland, the blue-haired boy ended up on top.

Raising his left leg, Minato stomped on Mercury's leg so hard it broke. But rather then a snap of a bone, the crazed male had broken right through the limb. Instead of blood and bone was metal and sparks, meaning that Mercury's leg was made of metal and seemed to be of a robotic nature. But judging by the screams that the grey-haired boy produced, it was more than a prosthetic of sorts.

The reveal however did not mean anything to Minato at all.

Raising his foot again, Minato stomped the other leg into two. Just like the first one, it was metal. The son of Salem then continued embedding his foot onto the body of Mercury, this time seeming to hold back just so he wouldn't put any holes in his victim. Planting his left foot on the ground, Minato then brought his right leg up backwards before kicking Mercury into the air.

Extending his right arm behind him, Minato only watched Mercury fall back down to the ground as Thanatos crawled only half-way out of its master's shadow. The monster seemed to make effort to pull something out with it. Thanatos then out a coffin, which Minato grabbed with his extended limb, before sinking back into the darkness.

"Pathetic, you damn bastard!" Minato roared in madness. In the middle of his taunt, he swung the coffin over in head in an arc motion. Just as Mercury fell back onto the ground, the blue-haired male slammed the box of the dead right onto top of the downed body. Upon impact, the coffin shattered into splinters and Mercury was unconscious.

Hunched over due to the amount of force Minato put into that attack, he suddenly felt something hit him. If he were to say, it would be something like a bullet. Looking over, there was nobody in sight. He then smirked. "Not nearly good enough, so…" Bending his knees, the suddenly leapt up and forward into the air while throwing out his right fist. "Drop dead!"

Feeling his fist hit something in from thin air, Minato watched an airborne Emerald appear out of nowhere. The girl had lost focus when the boy had punched her. But he was far from done with her. Just as the two of them were falling, Minato grabbed her face. Upon landing, Emerald had the back of her head slammed deep into the ground.

Minato then started running, all while making sure that he was putting a ton of weight on his right side. Emerald meanwhile felt the constant skidding and power against her head as she continued to be dragged into the ground. After moving fast for a good few seconds, Minato tossed the green-haired female into the air.

Snatching the back of her skull this time, he then slammed her face right against the dirt of the surface he stood on. "Come on! Come on! Come on! That the best you can do?!" With each sentence, Minato reared his arm back only to smash Emerald's head against the ground. After three bashes, Minato added in a fourth one for good measure just before weakly throwing her into the air. Just before she could fall though, Minato kick her right in the stomach and away from him.

Just as he set his foot to the ground, he felt something pierce his stomach.

Looking down, the hilt and handle of a sword were seen while he assumed that the rest of the weapon was inside of his body and behind him. Craning his head up, Cinder was in his vision and had both of her hands on the handle. A victorious look grew on her face as Minato seemed to quiet down.

Her expression fell when Minato flash a shit-eating grin and he clutched her face in his right hand.

"It's a shame to show you how serious I can get!" Minato yelled out, the strength behind his grip causing Cinder to buckle down and try to pry his fingers off. Lifting her into the air, he then threw her a meter away.

Cinder then flipped backwards in hope of gaining distance from the close-quartered fighter. But just as she got back up, she was suddenly swept from underneath her feet. Looking down as she fell, she was shocked to see that chain links were extended all the way under and past her.

The grappling claw eventually grabbed onto a rock and Minato pulled himself forward quickly. Just as he stopped himself in front of the falling female while bringing left arm and chain back, Minato swung a right hook across Cinder's jaw. He then immediately hit her stomach with an uppercut from the left fist which caused her to collapse to her knees and cough violently.

Cracking his knuckles, Minato began laughing like an insane psychopath. Throwing his right fist forward against her face and sent her flying away. But she suddenly stopped soaring as his claw grabbed her clothing when he had punched Cinder. Dragging her back, Minato then threw a heavy left hook. Just like his right, the left claw grabbed onto Cinder and dragged her in front of the boy to get hit by him again.

It was a brutal moment. Minato threw right fist after left, constantly dragging Cinder back just to hit her again. After a few seconds of his fun, he made sure to stand her up straight and then punched her across the jaw with his right hand.

As Cinder staggered, Thanatos suddenly leapt out from Minato's shadow and slapped her with the back of its right hand. Stumbling, Cinder felt Minato slam the heel of his foot against her stomach. Thanatos drew its sword and bashed the flat end against the top of her head. Minato threw another right-handed punch against her face. Thanatos kicked that exact spot.

Minato then ran forward and grabbed Cinder by the neck. "Just die already!" Lifting her into the air, he then slammed her body against the ground and straddled her. Cinder's eyes burned with so much anger. She tried her usual trick of summoning flames to burn Minato. But the fire did nothing as what came next was a barrage of punches from the male teenager.

Left. Right. Right. Right. Left. Right. Left. Right! Right! Left! Right! Right! Right! Left! RIGHT! LEFT! RIGHT! RIGHT! RIGHT! LEFT! RIGHT! RIGHT! RIGHT! LE-!

Before Minato could swing another fist down onto Cinder's beaten face, he was blasted with something and felt a burn.

Snapping his head over, Minato saw Watts, Hazel, and Tyrian. Hazel was carrying machine which Watts was operating. Tyrian meanwhile had what looked like strobe light with a long cable at the back that was connected to the object which was in Watts' and Hazel's hands.

Dangling his hand down while holding onto the weapon, Tyrian raised his free hand curled it up to imitate a telescope. "Whew, looks like that made him mad!" He commented.

"What do you take this for?" Watts questioned, almost sounding a bit insulted while cranking a few knobs and tapping a few buttons. "Shut up and aim at him again. A level 8 charge wasn't enough. I'm going to risk a level 10 this time. How are you holding up Hazel?"

"Fine." The large man grunted, eyeing the mustached-man. "Just set it up already."

"Aaannnddd you might want to hurry." Tyrian notified them both, causing them to look up at the scorpion-Faunus. "It looks like Mini-mini coming right for us."

Indeed, the blue-haired male was running right at them on all fours as if he were some type of animal. But fortunately for them, Watts was already prepared. "Tyrian, take aim." Watching the addressed man do what he was told, Watts waiting for Minato to get closer. "Firing!"

Light began firing out from the end of the cable Tyrian held. But rather than a white color like one would expect from a lightbulb, this element was yellow. No electricity sparked from it though. As soon as the light landed on Minato's skin, the collapsed to the ground like a sack of potatoes.

But there was a second effect. Black sludge that was almost invisible at first was blasted off revealed itself when airborne. It was as if it had originally was a part of Minato's skin. As soon as the boy was on the ground though, the substance started crawling back towards him. The thick liquid almost had a mind of its own and destination already planned out.

Before it could reach him however, Salem finally appeared. With one hand, she curled her fingers around the front of Minato's face. Scooping him up, she arched her arm in a wide motion and slammed him back onto the dirt.

Placing her other hand on top of the first one, Salem began to clench them tighter. What came next was black smoke coming from her own hands. Such miasma was pumped into Minato's face. The more time Salem applied the smoke to the boy, the less the sludge moved. Minato's hands shot up and tried to pry the pale flesh off his face.

But eventually, Minato fell unconscious.

 **Y13 (End Song)**

When Minato opened his eyes, it came flooding towards him.

The last thing he could remember was the fight with Cinder, Emerald, and Mercury. The memory made him frown. He had almost lost.

But then came the moment when he had devoured that crystal he had broken when first arriving. What followed that was a change of clothing, and he felt himself almost going insane and berserk. Minato knew that he was capable of being brutal and violent. But what he did to those three… how he acted…

The very memory did not please Minto.

"…I see you're back to your usual self."

Hearing a voice, Minato looked up from his thoughts and to his side. Blinking, he nodded his head. "Mother…" He said, his tone blending into both a greeting and statement. He leaned back on the bench and the action made him pause for a moment.

…When did he sit down?

 **(** Play **Persona 3 ost – The Poem for Everyone's Souls)**

Looking around, he realized that the area they were in reminded him of a funeral home. The setting was… kind of blue. As he already discovered, he was sitting on a dark brown bench. Looking to his side and behind him, more benches were seen. But in front of him was a spacing for several things.

The first one was a large coffin that looked to be of a similar design that Thanatos would have hovering around its back. On top of the box were yellow flowers. Behind the coffin were two chairs next to each other with a cross between them, hanging up on the wall. In the corner on the left was a piano, apparently playing a calming tune on its own.

"I see that you have realized that you are in an unfamiliar environment." Salem noted, causing Minato to crane his head back over to the white-skinned being.

"…It is a bit of a surprise that I originally was in a wasteland to now be inside a funeral home that is mainly colored blue." Minato admitted, having his eyes wander the room once again.

Salem watched her son curiously take in his surroundings. "That is because this is a special setting set between dream and reality… mind and matter. Only those that I desire and wish to speak to may enter such a location." She then looked around as well. "The design of the room however… it appears to have taken on an appearance that possibly appeals to you."

…Appealed to him? Well, his mother did also say that it was possible. So there was potential that it was wrong then. Still, him technically creating the color and design to this environment? If he had to say… not bad. A lot of blue however.

…Also that was something Yang would say…

"…Why am I here then?" Minato realized this and asked his question.

To that, Salem's face fell. "You won… But do you remember your fight with Cinder and her followers before devouring that crystal, correct?" Minato's expression also went down, answering her question. "Then you recall that you went berserk, brutally beating them before Hazel, Tyrian, Watts and I had intervened in time."

The displeased look that he wore was all she needed. "…" There was also the silent stare he sent her.

"Considering how I rendered you unconscious, I considered it the perfect time to speak about an issue." Her own face fell. "I assume you are curious as to why you suddenly went on an insane rampage?"

Minato nodded his head, wanting answers.

Salem exhaled through her nose. "…As I have explained, your father wanted you to play a large part in his plans for his desired achievement." She began. "It seems as though that has already begun." She paused, waiting for Minato to respond. But he didn't which allowed her to continue. "When you devoured that crystal, the properties of the gem seemed to have resonated with you. The aftermath was you unlocking much potential. But with your sudden increase in power, it had affected your mind. After getting used to it, you would have returned to your normal mental state."

The blue-haired boy moved his head around a bit. "So when you laid your hands on me…"

"It was an attempt to seal most of the excess power that had affected your head." Salem finished for him. "Seeing how you are acting, I assume that I have succeeded."

"Does that mean I am unconscious at the moment?" Minato asked before pointing around. It does also help explain the sudden change of environment." Salem nodded once. Something else came to his mind after. "What exactly was that device that the others used?"

Salem looked down, thought growing on her face. "…It was a device that was created in hopes of harming or potentially crippling your father if he were to return. Considering how you hold the same power as him and I…" She didn't need to finish as Minato could already finish the sentence.

"I see…" He quietly noted. "Then why tell me this now? Why show me this… mindscape when you could have just explained everything when I wake up?"

Salem went silent. Nothing was spoken. Not even a sound was heard between the two of them for a few seconds. "With your sudden flare of power, no doubt it would attract your father here." She finally explained. "I did not want to waste any time." She turned back to Minato. "You are my son, but I ask that you at least leave this area immediately when you regain consciousness. For the sake of your safety, the sooner you leave the better it will be."

Now it was Minato's turn to think of something. "…My father… is he really that bad?" Minato asked.

"…It depends on who you question." She answered curtly.

That raised Minato's interest a little bit. It wasn't just his mother who knew who his father was? Well, she could be referring to all the other adults that follow her. But he still nodded his head. "Okay. If you think me leaving is for the best…"

Salem seemed to catch something that Minato was thinking about. "This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter." She reminded her son. "If you ever feel the need to talk to me, all you must do is allow your mind to drift off and you will find yourself here. I will know if you wish to communicate."

He blinked once. Comprehending Salem's words, Minato then nodded his head to confirm he understood and heard her. "…And to remind you-"

Salem seemed to sigh, cutting Minato off. "Yes, we are not allowed to pursue the Winter maiden until we have obtained the remaining ones. Don't worry, Minato, I promised you this and did not forget." She then stood up. Holding her hand out, she gestured to the doors that were at the back of the room. "Shall we depart?"

Looking up at Salem, Minato was still for a moment before getting up to his feet. Stepping forward once, he was next to the white-skinned figure. Another second passed and he sudden hugged her slowly.

"…Thank you…"

Salem did not show or say, but she was surprised at the initiation that Minato had taken. Eventually, snapping out of a tiny stupor, she slowly returned the embrace. "You're welcome… I love you, Minato."

"…" Minato nodded slightly, rubbing his face against his mother's body in the process due toe the action. "…I know…"

With an unspoken signal, they both broke apart their hug. Watching his mother soon take the lead, Minato followed her to the doors that led away from the room that was velvet blue.

 **Y13 (End Song)**

"Ahh, home sweet home… Well, at least the island that can be considered home."

Yang stretched her arms after wheeling her motorcycle off the ferry from Vale. It was a long trip and she was absolutely beat. Driving alone from her mom's camp to Mistral. Taking an airship to Vale and catching a boat after. It was incredibly boring.

But the blonde remained to be a bit upbeat. Humming, she pulled out her scroll. The device told her that she didn't have any new messages, so she decided to send some.

But as she was just about to tap her thumbs on the screen, she saw something through the holographic screen. The sight made her grin and pocket the electronic. "Yo, Minato, over here!" She called out loudly while waving. "Looking good! Where did you get those new threads?"

Her blue-haired boyfriend looked over when he heard her voice. Watching him approach, Yang noted that he was faster than usual. Before she knew it, the blonde was suddenly hugged.

"Whoa!" Yang let out a surprised breath with a grin. "Guess you really missed me that much, huh?" She jested. But after a couple of seconds, Minato's hug became tighter. Yang suddenly went silent, noticing the strength behind his arms. She then began to smile gently, closing her eyes and returning his embrace. "Hey… it's okay…" She said softly, comforting the boy. "I'm right here…"

"…Yeah…" Minato whispered.

"Seems like you had a bit of a rough time." Yang commented. Feeling Minato loosen his hug, she did the same as well. Leaning back, Minato's hands prevented her from falling too far so she could get a look at his face. "You want to talk about it?"

 **Y13**

"Wow… and I thought the relationship with my mom was weird."

Minato agreed with Yang's statement with multiple nods of his head as he wheeled the motorbike down the sidewalk.

They had talked. Out of the many comparisons, there were quite a few they had in common. The main thing they pointed out was that their moms were powerful figures with their own set of followers for one.

On Yang's side, it was tiring. Raven insisted that the blonde keep training to protect herself properly. Everyday, it was practice without a break until it would be the time for a meal. On the bright side, Yang learned how to use her maiden powers much more effectively. She even learned how to float and fly around.

Minato's tale however was a bit crazier.

"But on a serious note, we really discovered some crazy and twisted stuff, huh?" Yang asked, walking backwards with her hands behind her head.

"…Yeah." Minato nodded his head.

"…Damn, we can't really tell anyone else either." Yang sighed, her face falling into a small frown. "Mom said don't tell Uncle Qrow even though he knows about this stuff because of Ozpin. Who knew that the headmaster would be in on this magic stuff as well?"

"…As long as we prepare ourselves, we should be fine…" Minato answered. "But for now… we should enjoy ourselves."

"Mmm." Yang hummed. "By the way, how does it feel to be the son of someone bent on trying to end humanity and Faunus-kind?"

Minato raised an eyebrow. "Not really any different."

Yang continued walking backwards but then stopped when Minato did. "Yo, dude, everything okay?" She asked, walking over to the boy. Seeing him nod, the action just confused her. Realizing that Minato was looking to his side, she did the same as well. "…Why are you looking at the pharmacy?"

Feeling something grab her hands, Yang looked down to see that Minato was squeezing them gently. The boy then bent forward. Surprised by the tenderness, Yang froze when his face and her own were so close.

Feeling his warm breath tickle her skin, she heard what he whispered in her ear.

 **Y13**

"Tonight's the night Yang and Minato are coming home… Why aren't we at your house and at a bar instead again?" Qrow asked critically, narrowing his eyes and pointing at Tai.

The blonde adult sighed while shaking his head. "While it's nice… I feel as though I should give them a bit of time alone, away from Mistral." He answered. "Raven… I just have a bad feeling she'll have an affect on them. Considering how they were away for nearly a week…"

Before Qrow could open his mouth to retort, a jingle disturbed them both. Tai reached into his pocket and pulled out his scroll. He held a bit of a concerned look when he read the name written on the caller ID.

Tai flicked the talk symbol with his thumb and put the device to his ear. "Hey, Ruby, sweetie, everything okay?" He asked.

[Dad, Qrow, you have to come back home immediately!] The girl's voice nearly shrieked at the other line.

That one line immediately made Tai wince at the sheer volume the girl produced. "Sweetie, what's wrong?" Qrow narrowed his eyes at Tais' question.

[It's Yang! She's gone crazy!]

"Wha… Yang's go-"

[She's trying to get Minato involved in the dark arts!]

Right after that line, Tai's gaze fell flat. "…Ruby…" Tai said slowly. "Could you explain what you mean?"

[We-well, I was eating a midnight snack when Yang threw and slammed the door open then shut. She was laughing like crazy and dragging Minato around. Yang went up the stairs and…] Ruby paused at the end. [Oh no… the water in the bathroom is running… I think she's trying to get Minato to summon Bloody Mary!]

"…" Tai and Qrow both look at each other. The black haired adult however was confused. "Ruby, listen to me very carefully. Go to your room, lock yourself in, and make sure to ignore everything that you hear."

[A-are you sure?]

"Trust me, Minato's a strong-willed guy. There's no way he'll succumb to her. Okay?"

[…Okay…]

"Right, see you later." Tai then hung up the scroll. Looking over, he noticed that Qrow was still giving him a weird look.

"…The hell was that all about?" Qrow asked.

"…Well… Ruby saw Yang dragging Minato around… and she heard the bathroom water running…" Tai slowly said.

Qrow then immediately knew that was happening. "Minato Arisato is having sex with Yang?!" He then gasped. "How inexcusable (I am so proud of him)!" Qrow didn't even care about the gaze Tai gave him when he proudly stated his true intention through clenched teeth. "Truly this must be a horror to you (fuck her sister next)!" He then cleared his throat.

"…" Tai gave the other man a dull stare. "…Qrow…" The blonde then started to grin. "My thoughts exactly!"

The two immediately shook hands in excitement and started drinking in celebration.

 **Y13**

As the water ran, Yang blushed.

Yes, she was eager to move forward with Minato in their relationship. But despite all of her teasing, Yang had to admit she was not fully prepared for the main event of the night. She even hesitated to take off all of her clothing, at least settling for keeping her bra and underwear on.

Minato was down to his boxers when he noticed Yang's reaction to the situation. He didn't blame her. His question was pretty sudden after all. Yet her answer was extremely swift.

"Yang," His voice seemed to snap her out of her trace. Walking closer, he slowly placed his hands on her body. Gently, his fingers traced her skin as he lowered himself onto his knees. "I love you."

Blinking, Yang knew that Minato was trying to comfort her. His words made her smile. "I love you too." She answered back.

That night, they made an oath and bond that would only grow deeper as time would pass.

 **Welp, here we go. Bits here and there… Yeah…**

 **Going to move onto Beacon in the next chapter… just to spoil it for you guys. Cause… you know… kind of technically been a 22 chapter prologue in a way or sense…**

 **No flames please.**


	25. Chapter 25

**This is a fanfic. BUY THE FUCKING MERCHANDISE!**

"Wow… would you just take a look at that view."

Yang whistled, impressed at the sight she got to see right before her eyes. Inside of an airship, the blonde stood right next to her blue-haired boyfriend. "I know we went to Mistral and the trip there was forever, but it's just so cool seeing Remnant from this high in the air…" The blonde continued to compliment, taking in every passing second.

"Yes, it is quite impressive." Minato had to agree with a nod of his head. He then turned his vision to the many people behind them. "Speaking of view, take a look at the students that will be attending Beacon with us."

Behind them was a small mass of teenagers their age going about their own business. Some stared out of the large windows as well. Some sat down in chairs to play with their scrolls. Others socialized, trying to get to know others better.

"Yeah…" Yang said, turning around to lean back against the railing behind her. "Hard to believe that despite Beacon being a place that is welcoming to all huntresses and hunters, it sure limits how many people can enter per year. I mean, shouldn't the Kingdoms try having more students enter these kinds of academies for more protection?"

"Maybe." Minato shrugged his shoulders. "But there is the problem of those going against the law."

"Good point." Yang sighed while rubbing her head. Looking around, she saw that there was a small spot that nobody had taken yet. "Hey, Minato, want to try taking a seat? I still think there's a bit of a ride ahead of us."

Looking at the blonde before trying to visually find the place she was talking about, the boy nodded his head. His hand was then taken and was directed over to where they had planned to sit. Taking their seats, they felt the stress on their legs go away as the seat provided comfort with their cushioning.

"Mmm." Yang stretched her arms out, feeling the tension dissipate with each second. "What kind of material do you think these chairs use?" She questioned. "The airship that took us to Mistral was so much worse than this."

"No idea." Minato answered. "But I do understand why you want to know." He then just started looking around to see if there would be anything to interest him visually. Just when a quick search held nothing, his head stopped when his eyes laid upon a group of people.

Yang blinked when she saw Minato's head go a bit stiff. "You okay?" She asked, turning to see what exactly Minato was staring at.

The sight surprised her a bit. There, she saw four faces she thought she would forget. But wouldn't. Mainly because one of them had a mohawk that would be considered ridiculous, even by her standards.

"Huh… who would have thought Cardin and his lackeys would have made it to Beacon." The blonde commented before looking over. "This doesn't really bother you, does it?" Minato not answering after a couple of seconds made Yang frown a bit. But then he eventually shook his head, causing her to breath in relief.

That sound caused Minato to take his eyes off Cardin in order to look at Yang. "…Sorry about that." He apologized.

Confused at first, it took Yang a couple of seconds to comprehend what Minato was referring to. When it clicked, she let out a single bark of laughter. "Come on, Minato. You always worry over the tiniest things with me. I keep telling you, there's no need to sweat the small stuff." She jabbed his arm playfully.

"…Sorry." Minato apologized once more.

This caused Yang to grin. "There you go again." She punched the same spot with every passing word, causing Minato to realize what he had done. The blonde then let out a sigh while shaking her head in amusement. Looking over at a clock, she saw the time. "We're almost there. I must have been looking out the window a lot longer than I thought."

Minato hummed in acknowledgement of Yang's sentence. As his face moved with a nod, his eyes noticed something. There was a certain color that stood out to Minato. "…Yang…" He said slowly.

"Yeah, what's up?" She asked.

"Ruby is still 15 years old and should still be attending Signal, right? So, she should be back at home"

"…From what I last remember, yeah."

"Then why is she on this airship?"

"…What?" Yang sat up a bit straighter when she heard Minato question. Looking over to where the boy was staring, she soon saw what he was referring to. In her sight was a single teenage girl that wore a single red hood and cloak. "You're right. What's Ruby doing here?"

"…Maybe we should ask?" Minato suggested.

The two of them immediately got off their seats. Walking over towards the girl in question, Yang was the first to initiate. "Hey, that you Ruby?"

The person they were attempting to address was startled a bit, possibly confirming it was indeed the younger girl. Turning around, the female did present herself to be Yang's younger sister. "Uh, hey guys… How are you two doing?" She asked sheepishly.

"We're confused." Minato stated.

"Ahaha… yeah…" Ruby's laugh and reply were both a bit weak. She tired to put up a smile, but the two older teenagers knew how she was really feeling. "I guess you guys are wondering what I'm doing on my way to Beacon with you guys."

"You could say that." Yang nodded. "I mean, we literally saw you at home before going to the hotel to sleep at for the Beacon airship."

"Well…" Ruby looked around, trying to think about how to explain herself. Eventually, she saw something and pointed in that direction. Both Minato and Yang turned to see a single TV screen with an image of a man with orange hair.

[The robbery last night was led by the notorious criminal Roman Torchwick, but his attempt however was thwarted by an individual whose identity was wished to remain anonymous. Unfortunately, such a criminal continued to evade authorities by riding in a suspected stolen Bullhead as eyewitnesses claim. If you have any information on his whereabouts, please contact the Vale police department.]

After listening to the news, the duo turned their heads back to the younger sister. "…Yeah… that…" She said slowly. "After trying to stop Torchwick, I was brought to a police station where Professor Ozpin questioned me."

That mention caused Minato to raise an eyebrow. "The headmaster of Beacon came to see you personally after you thwarted a robbery?"

"He asked me a few questions, eventually asking if I wanted to join Beacon since I told him it was my dream to." Ruby explained. "So, after that, I went home, told dad, packed a few things quickly, and was rushed here…"

"…And Tai never mentioned any of this to us because…" The blue-haired boy trailed off.

"He wanted to surprise you two."

Minato's gaze went flat. "…Unfortunately, I can believe those were really his intentions."

"But what's got you all scared then?" Yang held her arms out as if it were one giant presentation. "You get to go to Beacon, just like you've always dreamed! Not only that, but with your big sis and bro to boot as well! What's got you so down?"

"I'm standing out enough as it is!" Ruby shouted. Panting after expelling a lot of air, she noticed that she was drawing attention from other teenagers on the aircraft. She then sighed, pulling her hood over her head in embarrassment. "I'm fifteen, two years younger than you guys… It was tough enough already having to try to make friends at Signal with how… I don't know… awkward I am. I just want to be a part of the group… Not…"

Hearing Ruby trail off, both Minato and Yang looked at each other. Bringing their gazes back to the younger girl, Yang brought Ruby in close while Minato patted the top of her head. "Hey, don't worry about that." Yang tried to reassure her sister. "That stuff just happened because high-schoolers are high-schoolers. Here, we're basically between teenagers and adult-hood. We easily accepting things as they are."

"Unless they go against our moral compasses." Minato commented.

Slowly, Ruby peeked up towards the older duo. Seeing them both looking at her with concern (at least it seemed to be that way with Minato's straight look being a bit disoriented), she was embarrassed once again. Despite ducking her face down, she still had something to say. "…Thanks."

As they both nodded their heads, the couple looked over to the windows once again. "Ruby, look," Minato quietly urged his alleged sister to take in what he was seeing. "You can see Vale and Beacon just ahead. Looks like we're arriving soon."

Slowly turning her head, the feeling of embarrassed shame washed off the young girl. Breaking out of Yang's hold, she walked closer to the window to see the Kingdom they were a part of. Looking in the other direction though, she could make out a small patch of land. "…There's Patch…" She said slowly. "Home is pretty far away…"

"Maybe." Yang nodded in agreement, walking forward and looking next to her sister. "But Beacon is going to be another home of ours. A new home for a new family. Me, you, Minato, and who knows who else. But I bet it's going to be one heck of a group."

 **Y13**

Minato walked off the airship with Yang and Ruby in front of him as they were passed by many other students. In the middle of their trip, all of them were admiring the school grounds.

"The view from Vale and Patch combined got nothing on this." Yang whistled while crossing her arms. "Just… I knew Beacon is amazing and all. But this... this is some good-looking stuff."

"I know…" Ruby followed up. "…Look at all of the weapons!"

…Minato had to agree on both of their parts. The exterior of Beacon Academy was already appealing in a visual standard. As for Ruby's perspective, there were many students going about with their weapons already visible to the naked eye. Considering the absolute passion Ruby had for weapons, he should have seen this coming.

Heck, she was one to even create the design of his weapons. Close quarter gauntlets like Yang's while shooting rifle slugs like Ruby.

"Whoa, easy there, sister." Yang had to grab Ruby by the back of her hood to prevent her from running to different people and asking them all sorts of questions about their equipment. "I know you're all about weapons, but let's save that for now. It's better to try to get to know people first. When you do that, then you can ask about their weapons."

"…Yeah… you're right." Ruby admitted. But then she perked up a bit. "Come on, let's go check out some of Beacon before having to go to the auditorium!" She then turned around to run.

Just as Ruby turned, Minato noticed someone approaching with some heavy luggage in tow from the side. Seeing the speed Ruby was going to move and how close the stranger was, they were bound to crash. But despite snapping his arms quickly forward, he missed Ruby and the girl tripped right over a trolley and was buried under a mountain of suitcases.

"Watch where you're going!"

As Ruby clawed her way out of a pile, the three of them saw at pale skinned girl glaring at the red-hooded female. The stranger had pale blue eyes and long white hair pulled back into an off-centered bun tail on the right side and pinned with an icicle-shaped tiara. A crooked scar ran down vertically down her left eye.

She wore a thigh-length strapless dress with a faint color gradation from white to pale blue at the hem. A small piece of black lace sat at the front of her neckline and the hem of the dress was scalloped and stitched to resemble snowflakes. Over it she wore a bell-sleeved bolero with the same color gradation as her dress from shoulder to wrist, lined in red and with a ruffled collar..

"Ah, sorry!" Ruby apologized, quickly popping out of the pile. But that only caused the suitcases to fly all over the place, even making one smack into the stranger's face. "Ah, sorry again!"

"Sorry?! A simple apology is not enough with your reckless attitude!" The white themed girl scowled, pointing a finger over to Ruby while she rubbed her nose. "Do you have any idea what sort of damage you could have caused by knocking over my luggage alone?! There is high quality Dust in those suitcases!"

"Oi, girly, she said she was sorry!" Yang stepped in between the stranger and Ruby. With her own narrowed eyes, she had snatched up the hand that belonged to the one who belittled her younger sister. "And how was she supposed to know you were coming or what's in your suitcases?"

"If she took her time instead of running recklessly like the child she appears to be, I wouldn't have to be lecturing her!" The girl stated, trying to tear her arm out of Yang's grip. "And it's Weiss Schnee, not girly!" She then peered behind Yang. "Is she even old enough to be attending Beacon Academy?"

"The headmaster thinks she's good enough, so I don't see a problem with it." Minato interjected, taking a hold of Yang's and Weiss' wrists. "Yang, I think you can let go of her wrist now." Keeping a grip on the area near both hands, the two females looked at the blue-haired male.

"...Whatever you say, Minato." Yang shrugged her shoulders, letting go of Weiss' arm before turning around. "Hey, you okay?" She asked her sister gently, extending an arm for Ruby to take. "You look like you took a nasty spill there."

"Y-yeah, I'm fine." Ruby reassured as she was dragged back up. Dusting herself off, she looked over towards Weiss. "Umm, sorry about all of that… I'll-I'll help you clean it all up!" With that said, the younger girl started zipping around to grab the scattered luggage.

Yang opened her mouth but then closed it a couple of seconds after to help her sister.

Weiss however did not hear Ruby's words. She was too busy having her eyes narrowed in Minato's direction. Minato however raised an eyebrow at the critical stare he was receiving. "…Can I help you?" He asked, his hands in his pockets while being slightly hunched over.

"…Minato…" Weiss said slowly. "…Yang… Where have I heard those names before?" She then looked over to see Ruby and Yang both collecting up all her suitcases. "Who told you both that you could handle those?! Do you have any idea how delicate the contents are?!" Seeing how the two sisters were too invested into their task, she groaned.

"They're being careful." Minato reassured the white-haired female. He did not show it, but Minato was slightly getting antsy when it was coming down to Weiss' attitude. But he had to keep a cool head to try and calm the girl down and help show her that what happened was an accident. That as well as Ruby's intentions were for the better.

"That still doesn't mean they can just touch my stuff without my consent." Weiss stated curtly with a fold of her arms.

…Minato didn't ask if she preferred for her luggage to be left scattered around the place while they left her alone. It would not bode well for him, Yang, Ruby, or Weiss.

"Wait a minute… Minato Arisato and Yang Xiao Long!" Weiss exclaimed, pointing a finger directly in Minato's face.

"Someone rang?" Yang asked, heaving a couple of suitcases in one hand back onto the trolley before looking over in Weiss direction.

"Didn't you two attend the Mistral Tournament and nearly make it into the finals easily until you both faced off against one another?" Weiss questioned.

"…That's oddly specific." Minato stated.

"Yeah, we are." Yang said, putting her hands behind her head. But then she raised an eyebrow. "What's it to you?"

Weiss looked like she was about to speak before she looked over to see that Ruby was still trying to collect her luggage. Clearing her throat, she straightened her back. "Well, perhaps I should properly introduce myself. My name is Weiss Schnee, heiress of the Schnee Dust Company, and I would like to apologize for my earlier actions. If it is okay with you two, after we finish clearing this up, could I perhaps ask you two a few questions?"

Both Yang and Minato looked at each other. This girl's sudden change in attitude was obvious. The reason though was a bit confusing. Yeah, they attended the Mistral Tournament and almost made it to the finals easily. But that was really it. It wasn't really that special in their opinions.

Yang however looked towards Ruby who had just finished putting everything back where it belonged. Eyeing Weiss, a plan soon formed in her head. Bringing her gaze to Minato after, he must have had a feeling what she had in mind because he started shaking his head. The blonde however only nodded with a small grin.

"Sorry, Minato and I promised to do a couple of things before meeting the auditorium. But I'm sure my little sister, Ruby, will be able to answer all kinds of question you have!" Yang waved before grabbed Minato by the collar of his back t-shirt. "Okay, see you later!"

Looking down at the blonde's arm, Minato sighed in reluctance before he was swiftly dragged away so fast his lower body was airborne.

Weiss, meanwhile, looked absolutely shocked at how she was just treated.

"…So…"

Ruby jumped back with a yelp when Weiss snapped her head over in the red-hooded female's direction, knocking over the stranger's luggage in the process.

 **No flames please.**


	26. Chapter 26

**This is a fanfic. BUY THE FUCKING MERCHANDISE!**

Coming to a jog, Yang wiped her forehead with her free arm, "Phew," She breathed, not tired but more on the side of being winded. "Right then, that should be far enough." Commenting on the distance she had to move, she turned her head over to the arm that was still holding Minato's collar. "What do you think?"

"I'm still thinking about the speed you had to run in order to keep airborne for that entire time." Minato answered, now dangling near the ground limply. Getting back to his feet, he at least patted himself down to get rid of the wrinkles on his t-shirt when Yang let go. In the middle of his action, he even turned his head around in the direction they had retreated from. "Do you think it was a really good idea to leave Ruby alone with that girl? She didn't… exactly seem to have the best attitude."

"Come on, she's my younger sister, of course I'm worried about her." Putting her hands behind her head, she started walking backwards while Minato followed. "But she should remember that we're not always going to be there for her." There a small smile but her expression did not much such happiness.

Minato exhaled through his nostrils. "She's two years younger than us." He reminded the blonde. "Ruby even has trouble making friends at her age. She's at that teenage mentality where you don't know what to do or say to start socializing with people."

"True." Yang nodded her head. "But everyone at Beacon is at that age where we're supposedly chill and don't really have any problems with anyone unless they're extremely annoying or have a stick shoved up their ass."

"…" When Yang said that last part, Minato's gaze immediately became dull a bit.

"…What?" Yang tilted her head slightly when she received the look from Minato. But the boy continued not to say anything. During that time, it forced the blonde to think. It then dawned on her and lilac eyes widened. "…We just left Ruby alone with a person who has a stick shoved up their ass."

"Your words and actions, not mine." He stated. Putting his right hand into his pocket, he sighed while rubbing his forehead. "No point in going back now. You pushed Ruby into the water, you live with it."

"She's not really going to like me when we see each other again, is she?" Yang asked.

"It will be a phase, but yes."

With those words being the end of the conversation, the couple decided to go and wait where they were supposed to. But first, they wandered around a bit around the school grounds. As they had stated many times, this place was a lot bigger than Signal Academy. Then again, this was basically a college of sorts so there was bound to be a large campus.

Just finishing their little expedition, the two of them followed the massive flow of students that were all crowding into one building. Walking on in, they made their way over towards a spot where they could see a stage well enough as well as being able to lean against the wall.

But as they approached that area, they saw a familiar person.

"Yo, Pyrrha Nikkos, is that you?" Yang called out, being the vocal one as usual. Waving her hand, she attempted to get the red-head's attention even more. The combination of voice and movement seemed to have caught the Mistral Champion's eye as the girl looked over with wide eyes of surprise.

"Yang," Pyrrha gasped before smiling at the approaching people. "It's a pleasure to see you again."

"Ah, come on now," The blonde grinned while waving her hand as if shooing something away. "No need to act so polite and stuff. We're the same age, and we're at Beacon. Act how you want to act, that's what I have to say."

"At least while keeping common sense so you don't end up doing something you will regret." Minato added from the side. Nodding his head, he had his hands behind his back at the same time. "It's good to see you again, Pyrrha. How have you been since the Mistral Tournament?"

"Oh, things have been well for my remaining summer vacation." Pyrrha answered, looking towards the blue-haired male. "How have you been? Changed your wardrobe I see." Her face then fell into a concerned expression. "But isn't something like that more suitable for the summer rather than the upcoming autumn? Or are you going to change later?"

"What? That?" Yang asked, pointing to the clothing that Minato was wearing before letting loose a small laugh. "Minato may have concerns for some things, but temperature is not one of them. Seriously, he's almost unaffected by changes in climate and temperature. Let me tell you about this one time he slept outside during a blizzard with only the clothes on his back."

"YOU TRAITOR!"

Hearing a high cry of anger, the three teenagers only managed to turn their heads in time to see a black-and-red blur zoom past while decking Yang across her face. The impact was powerful enough to cause the blonde to recoil in surprise at the sudden attack. Looking over, the culprit only stood with a pouting face.

"Oh, hey Ruby." Yang grinned partially, ignoring the look her younger sister gave her. "How was hanging out with your new friend?"

"You mean when you ditched me while forcing me to fend for myself?!" Ruby exclaimed, shaking a fist at Yang. "Terrible, thank you for asking!" She then ran right up to Minato, grabbed his collar, and started shaking him back and forth. "And why didn't you do anything to help me?! I thought you would have my back!"

Originally, Minato would have been as still as a rock and not allow Ruby to flail him around. But in this situation, he thought it would be better for the younger sister to let loose some steam. As Ruby still held him, Minato had his knees bent, back arched, and his body was almost entirely limp as he raised a finger.

"You forgot I was dragged away." Minato pointed out while he was staring at the ceiling. "While what Yang did was not the best, there is a small lesson you should learn from it."

"Like what? Your older sister will always ditch you in the direst of times?!" Ruby critically asked, dragging Minato collar closer so she could give Minato an intense look while shoving her face into his personal space.

"That you should get out of your comfort zone and make good first impressions so you can make friends." His hands then gestured to his side. "Something that I believe you're not doing very well right now."

Raising an eyebrow, Ruby turned her head over to where Minato was pointing. Realizing that a tall red-head was staring at her with surprise, the smaller female squeaked out in surprise. Whipping her head around, she eventually released her grip on Minato. "…Uh… hi…" She sheepishly greeted.

Pyrrha continued to stare with large eyes. She only blinked out of her stupor when Ruby greeted her. "…Hello to you too..." She smiled in a friendly gesture. She then extended a hand in the red-hooded girl direction. "My name is Pyrrha Nikos. It's nice to meet you."

Ruby froze when Pyrrha brought her hand out for a handshake. She looked over towards Yang, who was giving her a bit of an encouraging nod despite being punched by the girl a few seconds ago. Ruby turned over to see Minato who was on the ground still, the boy just staring at her yet having a small glint in his eye. Facing Pyrrha, Ruby slowly and carefully held out her hand before grabbing the other limb.

"Hi… Pyrrha." The red-hooded girl said slowly and carefully. "My name is Ruby… It's… nice to meet you too..."

Yang's face lightened up a bit at the sight of Ruby interacting with the other girl. Walking over to Minato, she held a hand out for the boy to grab and pulled him up. "See?" She asked, pointing at Pyrrha trying to make small talk with Ruby while the other girl was a still a bit nervous but slightly more comfortable than before. "Our age doesn't really have any problem with anybody."

"You're omitting the fact that there was still one bad experience Ruby went through." Minato pointed out, causing Yang to roll her eyes but keep up her grin.

A small cough was suddenly boomed out of the speakers that were up on the ceiling. With such a loud noise, no only was their moment silenced but all manner of conversation went quiet. There was only one place in this entire room that could be the cause of such a sound.

All teenagers inside of the room turned their heads. Standing on a large stage was a middle-aged man with tousled silver hair and thin brown eyes. He had a light complexion and sharp facial features. Despite the color of his hair, his eyebrows were actually black. He wore shaded glass spectacles and a small, purple, cross-shaped pin on the cowl around his neck. His outfit mainly consisted of an unzipped black suit over a dark green, buttoned vest and green shirt. He also wore black trouser shoes and long, dark-green pants.

"Hey, Minato, check it out." Yang elbowed the boy's rib a couple of times before pointing. "It's Ozpin. The big baddie that mom said we're supposed to stay away from. Me specifically." She whispered into his ear.

"…I thought the big baddie we were supposed to stay away from was my mother." Minato stated, keeping his eyes focused forward to the stage.

"Mm, her too." Yang nodded with agreement. "Just reminds us that we both have some pretty weird mothers."

"Hn." Minato grunted.

As the adult they knew as Ozpin approached the mic, he stared out to each and every student. "I… will keep this brief." His eyes scanned the crowd. "You have travelled here today in search of knowledge. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy in need of purpose… direction." That generated quite a few murmurs through the crowd. "You assume knowledge will free you from this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."

After such a speech, Ozpin started to walk off-stage. The blonde then turned her head over to the blue-haired male. "Okay, now I'm starting to see light that mom had put him in."

"Not exactly an enlightening character, is he?" Minato asked.

That caused Yang to snort. "Enlightening." She giggled.

It took Minato a couple of seconds, but then he understood why she found that word funny.

 **Y13**

"So, how's it been with Pyrrha?"

Night had eventually came to Beacon. The time actually arrived a lot faster than any of them expected despite boarding the airship first thing in the morning. Stretching her arms high above her head, Yang walked around in her sleepwear. She knew that many guys were staring at her. It was only a natural thing to do if something or someone caught your interest.

Boy were they in for a surprise when they discover she had a boyfriend.

Letting out a breath of relief, she looked around for her spot. If she last remembered, Ruby and Minato all went to find a spot with the sleeping bags that had been supplied for them. Seeing her younger sister, the blonde immediately began walking in that direction.

"Hey, sis, how's it hanging?" Yang asked, dropping right down next to Ruby who had her eyes focused on something. "You texting someone?" She then looked around. "Know where Minato is?"

"Meh. Yes. He's brushing his teeth." Ruby answered in the order the questions were presented. Her eyes however were glued right to her scroll. "I'm just texting the gang back at Signal. I told them that I would let them know what the first day of Beacon is like so they could get ready when the time came."

"Aww, that's so sweet." Yang grinned, immediately getting a pillow thrown at her in the process.

"Shut up!" Ruby protested, sighing before pressing the send icon. "It's weird not knowing anyone here but you and Minato."

"But that's the same as it was when you first joined Signal, wasn't it?" Yang asked, peeling the item off of her face and sitting up. "You didn't know anyone there either at first and yet you made tons of friends, right?"

Ruby slowly went still and a few things played out in her mind.

Pepper.

Salt.

Mustard.

Vinegar.

When I get through, you'll all be skinnier.

I AM THE ROSE OF JUSTICE, NOW FEEL MY PRICK!

"…Uhh… yeah." Ruby drawled out slowly.

Yang sighed a bit while patting her sister's shoulder. "Besides, while it's true you don't really know anyone here, you met Pyrrha. She's a pretty cool girl to be around. It always starts with one person. Before you know it, you'll have a group that you can call friends." She gave an encouraging smile.

Ruby looked down in though. But after a few seconds of thinking, her lips curled up as she nodded at her sister back in response.

But that small moment between them was ruined when a leg accidentally bumped into Yang. "Sorry." The person apologized and they just kept on walking.

Blinking, Yang and Ruby both twisted their bodies in the direction the person had gone off to. Looking at each other the two wordlessly got up to their feet and began to approach the figure who had just sat themselves down against a wall.

The persona was a fair-skinned young woman with amber eyes and long, black hair. Her pajamas consisted of a black, long-sleeved, yukata-style shirt with white edging over a purple undershirt, and a matching skirt. A black obi was wrapped around her waist and tied with a black and white string. There was even a bow on top of her head.

Noticing that the two siblings were standing in front of her, the girl slowly looked up. "…Yes?" She asked. Yang and Ruby remained silent. She then frowned. "Can I help you?" Her next sentence was a bit agitated.

"Yang, Ruby, what are you two doing?"

Minato, wearing just a pair of long, black pajama bottoms, had a single eyebrow raised in the siblings' direction.

Not a second passed before Yang wrapped her arm around his shoulder and pulled him in close. "Check it out, Minato," She said while pointing towards the girl she was staring at. "We found your female counter-part!"

"…" Minato opened his mouth, but nothing came out. Settling for a sigh, he turned his face in the stranger's direction. "I apologize if these two caused you any trouble or discomfort."

"It's… okay…" The girl said a bit hesitantly.

"Yeah, I guess we shouldn't have done that." Yang scratched the back of her head. "Name's Yang by the way."

Minato saw the look the girl gave the blonde. "She's like that." He decided to fill her in.

"…Blake." The girl eventually introduced herself.

"What in the world is going on over here? Don't you realize some of us are trying to sleep?"

An annoyed voice now entered the conversation. Turning their heads, Ruby was the first to react as she immediately hid right behind Yang. "Not her!" She shouted as she dove for cover.

As Weiss approached the scene, she heard and saw Ruby. "I should have known you would be involved in such a nuisance!" She shouted.

At this interaction, Yang's face fell a bit. "Oi, princess, just give her a break already." It was still in her mind that she had ditched Ruby during their first moments in Beacon. Since this Weiss character had really given Ruby a tough time for almost not good reason, it was natural for her to come to the defense. "What happened is in the past. Just let it go."

Minato, knowing what was about to go do, immediately stepped in once again to make sure that things were going to heat up. "Look, she's right." He attempted to reason out. "We have initiation tomorrow. It's probably a good idea to get some rest."

Weiss was about to thank Minato for at least having common sense, but then noticed the way that Yang looked at him. Even that smaller girl had the same face. She couldn't help but question. "Excuse me… Minato Arisato," Hearing his name be addressed, he turned around. "How exactly are you familiar with Yang Xiao Long? Did you two just become good friends after the tournament?"

The couple just gave each other a weird look. "…We're going out." Minato stated bluntly.

"…Hold on a minute." Weiss shook her head after blanking out for a second. "You two…" She pointed. "Are dating?" They both nodded their heads. "I don't believe it." The weird looks on their faces were not directed to her. "Don't give me those faces! You two are the opposites!"

"Well, you know the saying," Yang shrugged her shoulders. "Opposites attract."

"I still don't believe it." Weiss firmly stood with a fold of her arms.

"I'm assuming you're going to want proof." Yang said, trying to make sure that this was what this girl wanted. Weiss nodded her head. "Alright, let's do this then." She then turned towards Minato and gestured to her lips. Minato only stared. "Come on, she's not buying it."

"I'm not selling it." Minato replied back.

Weiss only flatly stared at them. "Well I'm convinced." She stated sarcastically.

"Come on," Yang teased. "Just one peck. A quick smooch. Just to arouse her a little."

The white-haired girl opened her mouth. "I-, hey, I'm not-"

"I wasn't talking about you." Yang immediately cut the girl off, causing Weiss to giving the blonde an odd look.

"If I confirm it, will you and Ruby go to bed?" Minato bargained.

"Yup."

Minato turned his head in Weiss' direction. "It's true." The girl only gave them a straight face. Since he had to some more convincing, Minato leaned towards Yang and gave her a quick smooch on her lips. Both then turned to see the female's reaction.

"…I've been more passionate with my grandmother." Weiss deadpanned.

Sighing, Minato turned to Yang once more. "Ruby, cover your eyes."

Just as the younger girl did as she was told, Weiss was about to question something but Minato made his move.

Minato pushed himself right towards Yang. A moan escaped the blonde's lips as she bent backwards as Minato pushed onwards. But it didn't stop there. Minato's right hand moved up towards the front of her upper body while the left went behind and below the waist. Yang meanwhile wrapped her legs around him while keeping her arms around his neck.

This action carried on for about five seconds before Minato moved back and set Yang back down onto the ground who was panting. He then turned back to the girl from the morning incident. "We done here?"

Speechless, Weiss could only nod.

Nodding his own head in satisfaction, Minato turned around, grabbed Ruby, and started bringing her back to their sleeping bags.

After regaining her breath, she looked around to see that she was now the center of attention. Grinning, she spread her arms out as if it were one giant presentation. "That's right, boys, this lady is taken!" Laughing at the groans that traveled through the room, she decided to rub some more salt in their wounds as she walked back. "Hey Minato, how about we skip the foreplay tonight?"

"Time and place, Yang."

"Here and now."

"Not what I meant."

 **Okay, this took a while. Mainly due to life and laziness… and the other fics. Apologies.**

 **Also because I was trying to think of a different arc to put through. It's always the same stuff whenever people do fics at Beacon. It's always the same events. If they're different there's a high chance they're boring since they stick to the main story script in general.**

 **But fortunately, I think I had managed to come up with something. Something I haven't really seen fics do… or executed poorly. I may end up doing that latter part. And it will lead up to the possible events I already have in mind… maybe.**

 **No flames please.**


	27. Chapter 27

**This is a fanfic. BUY THE FUCKING MERCHANDISE.**

"Ah, now that was a good night's sleep!" Yang declared as she stretched, drawing Minato's eyes towards her. Rolling to her side, her head rubbed against his arm as it slightly acted as an extent of her pillow. "Wouldn't you agree, Minato? You slept like a log."

Minato nodded his head, seeing how it was now a bit brighter outside thanks to the sunlight coming through the windows. But then he saw Yang's eyes not on his face after a second and instead what was behind him. Looking over, he understood what had caught the blonde's attention. "Ruby," He shook his arm to awaken the younger sister. "Can you stop chewing on me?"

Hearing these words, Ruby froze. Slowly opening her eyes, she saw the two older teenagers staring at her. Averting her gaze down, the girl's gaze fell upon a part of Minato's arm inside of her mouth and that she was biting down. "Eep!" Ruby squeaked before recoiling back. "Sorry." She apologized sheepishly.

Minato sighed. "It's okay." He reassured the girl as he got out of his sleeping bag while the other two did as well.

Rolling them up, the three of them put them back where they belonged before heading to the bathroom to clean themselves up. It was a quick process and they all met up before heading to the cafeteria to eat. After grabbing a tray and piling it up, they brought themselves towards one of the least occupied tables.

Being the least occupied however didn't mean that it wasn't occupied, however.

"Yo, morning Pyrrha." Yang greeted the red-head as they all stood right behind her. "Mind if we sit with you?"

The Mistral champion turned her head around, surprised at the sudden interaction but still smiled politely. "Yang! Good morning." Pyrrha greeted her. "Of course, I don't mind." She gestured to the area around her.

"Sweet, thanks!" The blonde set her tray down while Minato and Ruby went to the other side of the table to set themselves. "So," Yang began as she put a forkful of food into her mouth. "What do you think is going to happen for initiative?"

"Yang, chew and swallow." Minato reminded her.

Pyrrha looked up in a bit of thought. "Well, all I am aware of is that teams of four are always made for all of the academies." She answered, putting a finger to her chin. "But how Professor Ozpin will do this is something I am not sure about… What do you think, Ruby?"

"…Uhh…" Ruby was slightly taken aback at Pyrrha suddenly asking her the question. "Well… perhaps he wants to see out skills. But Beacon doesn't really have any robots, so we may have to be fighting Grimm. But Grimm cannot be contained for too long otherwise they realize they're in captivity and disintegrate… Maybe we'll be thrown into the forest and then be organized by our skill levels?"

"Possibly." Minato agreed. "But if that's the case, then it probably would take more than a day to organize everyone. Classes technically start tomorrow so they would have to work either extremely hard or the organization method is different."

"If that's the case, think they're just going to throw names in a hat and pick four out at a time?" Yang questioned.

Minato shrugged his shoulders. "I doubt the staff of Beacon would be that uncaring when it comes to organization.

 **Y13**

Inside of a locker room, Yang tossed both of her Ember Celica gauntlets, in their bracelet forms, into the air with a small spin. As soon as the two weapons fell to her shoulders, she quickly thrusted both of her fists out at the same time. One of the bracelets slipped perfectly around her first arm. The seconds one however was punched and nailed Minato square in the face.

Looking over to the blue-haired boy. "Whoops," Yang chuckled, as the boy peeled the weapon off his face with his left hand. "Sorry about that." She held her hand out, so Minato fit the object around her free wrist. "Thanks." She smiled while giving him a nod.

Minato nodded back in return.

"Yang, Minato, have you guys seen my headphones?"

Turning their head, the two of them saw Ruby carrying Crescent Rose on her waist in its compact form. The girl had on a bit of a concerned expression. "Sorry, Rubes, haven't seen it." Yang shook her head.

"No." Minato also shook his head. "I guess this means you lost it."

"Yeah…" The smaller girl answered a bit dejectedly. "But they're red headphones with rose symbols on the sides of them! How do I lose something like that?" She then exclaimed, throwing her hand out for emphasis.

"…No idea." Minato stated. "But on a change of topics, I assume that you both are at least prepared for the initiation?"

"You know it!" Ruby exclaimed, bringing out her weapon and popping it out into its scythe form. The sudden change almost hit Minato in the stomach if he didn't take a cautious step back. "Today, I'm going to let my sweetheart do all of the talking." She giggled as she started caressing her weapon intimately. As couple of seconds passed before she quickly pointed at Minato. "It was a figure of speech."

Minato and Yang both looked at each other, almost having a mental conversation. "Ruby…" Yang was the one to start. "It's nice to see that you're enthusiastic about this… but remember that we're going to be in groups of four. Not only that, these groups are randomly created. You're going to be meeting new people." She reminded while folding her arms.

Ruby pouted. "You sound just like dad!" She drawled out in protest. "What does meeting people have to fighting?"

"We met Pyrrha at the Mistral Tournament." Minato answered almost immediately.

The red-hooded girl pointed a finger towards Minato. "Don't use logic against me, young man!"

"I'm older than you."

"You're still technically young!" Ruby replied.

"…As Yang said," Minato began to get back on track. "These teams of four are probably random. What will happen if you don't get on a team with us? You have to meet new people this way and get to know them better then. Better chemistry with people leads to better teamwork."

"…What does chemistry have to do with interacting with people?" Ruby raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"…" Minato just stared at Ruby due to her answer. Craning his head over, he faced Yang. "Is this a moment I should start being worried for her?" He asked his girlfriend.

"Think so?" Yang answered but was unsure herself.

[Would all first-year students please report to Beacon Cliff for initiation? Would all first-year students please report to Beacon Cliff for initiation?]

Looking around, the three of them saw a small crowd of teenagers about Minato and Yang's age begin to start walking out of the locker room. As the small mass was on the move, Minato looked over towards the two girls. "So… are we all ready for this?"

"Ready as I'll ever be." Yang grinned while punching her two fists together. She then beckoned towards Minato. "A kiss for good luck?" She tapped her cheek.

Minato leaned in a gave that area a small peck. Yang tapped her other cheek. He did the same thing. She then gestured to her lips. Minato used the same amount of force he did for the previous two kisses. That just made Yang pout a bit.

"What, that's it?" Yang asked as Minato shrugged his shoulders. "Alright then, my turn." Grabbing the collar of Minato's shirt, she dragged him in for another kiss.

This one lasted for a couple of seconds though. But the blonde leaned into it as Minato's body was like a solid wall against her force. Breaking it apart, she smiled and began pulling the boy along with her.

"…Eeewww…" Ruby groaned after witnessing what they had down before jogging after them.

 **Y13**

"Well, Ruby, looks like you were right." Yang said as the three of the Xiao Long/Rose household were near the cliffside that they were told to go towards. "We may be going into the Emerald Forest at this rate."

Easily this face was given away due to their surroundings. One didn't even need to be right next to the edge to see that there was a lush green forest just beyond what was a large drop. The tree colors even almost represented an emerald color, hence why the forest was named as such.

Bit of a lack of creativity really if you asked Minato.

"But Ruby said that we would be thrown in." Minato reminded them all as they saw that students were lining up next to each other. Following in suit, each of them picked an area that was near the end on the right side. "If that is the case, what's going to throw us over there?"

"Oh Minato," Hearing Yang sing his name out a bit, he turned his head over towards the blonde. Yang gestured multiple times with her finger down towards the grass that was beneath them. "I think I found the answer."

Looking to where the blonde was pointing, Minato blinked when the sight of some metal pad beneath them. Shifting his foot around, he then gave the platform a couple of kicks. "…I think this thing is actually installed into the ground." He let them know.

"Yeah, so?" Yang asked with a shrug of her shoulders.

"…What other uses could you see this for other than yearly?" Minato questioned with a raised eyebrow. "Kind of a waste of money if you ask me. Also, is it electrically powered or pressured?"

The sound of a throat clearing stopped their chatter as well as a few other conversations. Before them, Ozpin and Glynda Goodwitch each looked over the ensemble with rather serious expressions. If the two of them were indeed going to launch them all towards the forest, then it was not exactly a laughing matter.

At least, depending on who was asking or answering.

Ozpin was the one to speak since the throat clearing came from him. "For years you have trained to become warriors and today your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."

"Called it!" Ruby whispered.

Goodwitch took Ozpin's pause as her cue to speak. "Now, I'm sure that many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of teams." Well, technically it was more based on login if one thought about it. After all, what about all those other people before them. Team STRQ, the team that Tai and Qrow were on, being the perfect example. "Well allow us to put all of your confusion to rest. Each of you will be given teammates. Today."

"Okay, confirms that." Minato muttered loudly enough for Yang and Ruby to hear. "Question is how they organize people."

Ozpin then picked up on Goodwitch's pause. "These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So, it is within your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work with. That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."

"…" Minato gave Yang a weird face while pointing towards Ozpin.

"I know, doesn't make any sense in the slightest." Yang answered while seeing the absolute look of horror on Ruby's face."

"After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way." People or Grimm? Whatever the answer was, Ozpin did not share it. "Do not hesitate to destroy anything in your path, or you will die." Ah, Grimm it was then. "You will be monitored and graded for the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path, containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff. You will guard that item, as well as your standing as we grad you appropriately… Are there any question?" Nobody raised their hand. "Good, now take positions."

Taking that as a signal, everyone stepped forward onto the silver tiles on the ground. Placing his hands to his back, Minato arched that very part of his body. Several pops escaped his body loud and caused a few students to stare at him oddly. Yang stretched as well in the same way, getting interested looks from both genders.

Hearing a couple of clicks before the platforms would shoot up, each student on the left would be shot forward and deep into the forest. Just when it got to Yang, the blonde tipped her hat in their direction before being sent flying. Minato meanwhile bent his knees a bit. When his time came, he kicked off the metal as it launched him.

Soaring through air, Minato looked around. If he was supposed to land, it was probably best to do so in a way with the least amount of injury. There was still the possibility of a fight. Seeing how he was behind Yang, he did kind of want to be on the same team as her. Snapping his left hand out, the grappling claw was fired to try and latch onto a trunk bunt instead gripped a branch.

This was bad as Minto tried to swing. Due to a combination of his weight and speed, the wood extension broke and he immediately began falling down. Extending his right arm immediately to shoot another claw, a spear suddenly propelled itself right next to him and he grabbed it with instinct. The force behind the weapon however yanked into with great power right against a tree and all he did was hang there.

Just dangling, Minato looked up and saw the color scheme of the weapon. Hmm… bronze and a red color scheme to it…

"Oh you caught it, thank goodness." He heard a sigh of relief. "It would have been nasty if you fell from that height."

Dropping his head, he looked around the bushes that were scattered all over the ground. Seeing shifting among the green, that movement caught his attention. But the person who emerged did not surprise him really. Mainly because of the spear. "Looks like we're partners, Pyrrha."

The red-head offered a kind smile. "Yes, it looks like that is the case." A few seconds of silence passed between the two of them however. "Do you need me to help you get down?" She asked, a small frown growing on her lips due to concern.

"…Oh, no. Just a moment." Minato blinked answering. With a powerful yank while forcing himself down, the spear was torn right out of the bark and he landed on his feet. Handing the handle of the weapon back to the female, he tucked his right hand into his pocket. "Right, time to go for those relics. Think they're that way?" He pointed in a direction. "If Professor Ozpin said the northern forest, do you suppose he meant the way farthest from the launch pads?"

"Hmm, that would make sense." Pyrrha put a hand to her chin in thought. "In that case, it should be best that we get moving then."

"Agreed." Minato nodded his head as he was the first to move.

So, they began to travel. It was a bit of a boring scene, however. After seeing the trees repeatedly (same for bushes), it would be a bit of a mundane situation. But on the bright side however, they hadn't attracted or have run into any Grimm. But that did not bode very well with Minato. Mainly because that meant that there was a good possibility that they were on other students… namely Yang and Ruby.

Turning his head almost constantly, almost as if he were listening for something, he failed to notice Pyrrha giving him an odd look. "Minato… did you hear something?" She asked quietly in case the boy did.

"No…" Minato answered. "And that's what concerns me…"

Pyrrha saw the small frown grow on the boy's mouth. "Are you perhaps concerned about Yang and Ruby?" Minato didn't answer, but Pyrrha had a feeling that she knew the answer to this question. Especially after witnessing how the boy interacted with the two of them. "They both have trained as huntresses. I'm sure that they're skilled enough to have made it to Beacon Academy."

"Doesn't stop me from worrying." Minato almost answered immediately, still intently looking and listening around while on the move.

"Well, have faith in them." Pyrrha reassured the boy. "Also, you being worried may attract some Grimm." Minato grunted and eased off on his searching slightly. "…Those two must mean a lot to you if you're that concerned."

Minato tilted his head a bit to look at her from the corner of his eye. "When I was a child, I had certain expectations. As I grew up, exactly none of them were met…" He then paused slightly in his speech. "Yang reaching out to me changed that."

"…I see." Pyrrha nodded her head. "Is that why you two are dating?" That caused Minato to give the red-head his full attention. "You nor Yang did not say anything, but your… display last night told everyone." She blushed slightly, remembering at what Minato had done but she saw him to answer her question.

"…Oh yeah…" Minato mumbled in memory.

 **Y13**

Meanwhile, in another part of the forest, Yang had paired up with a familiar female.

Blake may have kept the black bow on top of her head, but the outfit was fit for the day rather than night. Right now, she wore a black buttoned vest with coattails and a single silver button on the front. Underneath that was a white, sleeveless, high necked, crop undershirt and white shorts with a zipper on the front of each leg. They also had on black low-heeled boots and full stockings with a color gradation of black to purple at her ankles. On their left arm was a detached sleeve with a silver cuff around her bicep, and black ribbons wrapped around both forearms. A small, loose scarf was wrapped around her neck and a gray magnetic backpack was strapped to her back, nearly hidden by her hair.

While Yang was used to silence (she was Minato's girlfriend, that kind of quiet with a given with the boy), it was odd when it came down to having to be with strangers who were accompanying her. Especially in this situation since they were going to be together for the next four years on the same team.

"…So…" The blonde spoke out, getting Blake's attention but they kept up their pace. "I know Minato apologized. But sorry about last night. It was just a bit of a surreal thing as well as a bit of an impulse for me to compare you to him suddenly."

Blake just gave her a look and then turned away. "It's fine." She responded curtly. "I'm sure you were just being you."

Rubbing her elbow, Yang at least had a sheepish look on. "Not really making the greatest first impression, sort of sounds like me." She said quietly. There was a silence between them again. Yang then looked up and wondered something about the top of Blake's head. "The ribbon a memento or something?"

Blake's hands twitched as well as just the slightest fault in her step. To most people, it would have easily been missed. Yang even swore she saw the bow even jolt by the slightest millimetre. "…What makes you say that?" She asked slowly.

"Well," Yang shrugged her shoulders. "It's just that Ruby has a cloak that belonged to her mom. She wears it all the time except when going to bed. I would have thought that it would apply to you if that were the case." Her face then brought up a thoughtful expression. "You know, now that I think about it, bows are used to help stylize hair or just be an accessory… But your bow it at the top of your head, not even tied to your hair. I've hardly seen it even part from there, even when you've been maneuvering your head around while moving. Almost as if it were wrapped around something…"

Wait… it was slowly coming to Yang now, especially with the rather cautious face Blake wore. The bow twitching just a few seconds earlier. Blake faltering and visibly reacting by a bit when talking about the ribbon. The black-haired female even had eyes that reminded her of…

"…Blake…" The name caused its owner to freeze at its tone. "…Are you a Faunus? More specifically, a cat Faunus?"

Hearing metal sliding against another surface of that same material, Yang immediately raised her right arm up to use her gauntlet for defense. Past her stance, she saw that Blake had her weapon half drawn out of it sheath that was at her back. The absolute startled expression Blake wore answered it all.

"…I'll take that as a yes then." Yang stated before dropping her guard and standing neutrally. But Blake did not change. The blonde raised an eyebrow at this.

"…" Blake realized what she was currently doing and slammed the weapon back into its storage and looked away. "…How did you figure it out?" She asked, not even bothering to deny it now. There was a feeling inside of her that no matter how hard she would deny it, Yang would just know that she was lying.

"Well, it was when I asked you about the ribbon." Yang answered. "After seeing how you reacted, and taking into account your appearance, I just came to that conclusion."

"Seeing me… react?" Blake frowned.

"Yeah, the tiniest falter in your walking and the smallest twitch." Yang pointed at the top of her head as an indication. "Trust me, you start noticing the smallest of details after being with Minato for a while."

For a while, Blake did not move. Finally though, she sighed. "Could you… not tell anyone?"

"Yeah, sure." Yang shrugged her shoulders. "But why hide it though?" She asked while folding her arms. "Plenty of Faunus are here at Beacon so it's something you don't need to be ashamed about."

"…Even so, I prefer for people to see me for who I am… not what." Blake answered before turning back around and just walking forward without another word.

Turning her head a bit while still looking forward, Yang eventually nodded her head. "Yup, a female version of Minato." She muttered before trailing after the girl.

It only took them about a minute before reaching a clearing. Among that clearing were ruins that looked like they belonged to a temple. "Well… looks like this is the place…" Yang said, breaking their silence once again.

"Let's just grab this relic Professor Ozpin wanted us to grab and get it over with." Blake said curtly while moving forward.

Yang only gave Blake a look before moving along with her. As the two of them approached some pedestals, they noticed a couple were bare while others had… "Chess pieces?" Yang questioned aloud. "Think we're supposed to grab one?"

"Maybe." Blake replied back, looking over the selection. "Some of them are missing, so it probably means that other students have already been here and taken their share."

"Well, in that case," Yang said before grabbing a knight chess piece and held it out. "How about this golden stallion?"

Blake rolled her eyes. "Sure, whatever." She shrugged her shoulders as Yang pocketed the object. Looking behind the blonde, she gestured with her chin when getting an odd expression from her. "Two more." Her statement was all that was needed to have Yang turn around.

Yang waved, immediately recognizing both. "Yo, Minato, Pyrrha, glad to see that the both of you made it!" She called out.

"Really, it wasn't much." Pyrrha said when she and the blue-haired male got in close enough. "This location is actually rather easy to find. Plus, we thankfully didn't run into any trouble."

"Nice." Yang nodded her head before looking over to the male. "And what about you, Minato?" She asked. "Did you behave properly without me?"

"Yes." Minato nodded his head before peering around her. "Are those the relics over there what Professor Ozpin was talking about?"

Yang confirmed his question by giving Minato two thumbs up and a smile.

Walking over, Minato combed around over the selection that was left over. "…Anything you want specifically, Pyrrha?" He questioned without looking up from his choice of chess pieces.

"It doesn't matter." Pyrrha replied back.

With a shrug, Minato pocketed the black rook.

"Should we start heading back?" Yang asked. "We all got what we needed after all." Both Pyrrha and Minato nodded their heads. Blake however had a bit of a frown on her face. "Everything okay, Blake?"

The black-haired female however cocked her head to the side. "Do you guys hear that?" Blake asked.

At first, no one knew what she was talking about. But as seconds passed, they started hearing it. A pair of screams careening down right down from the sky. Before any of them could physically react, two people fell right on top of Minato.

 **Oh relax, it's not like something like two people falling from the sky landing right on top of him is really going to do Minato any sort of physical harm.**

 **No flames please.**


	28. Chapter 28

**This is a fanfic. BUY THE FUCKING MERCHANDISE!**

"See, Weiss, told you it was okay!"

"You just got lucky something broke our fault, you dolt!"

On top of Minato, both Ruby and Weiss were arguing with each other. Besides the blue-haired male, everyone else was staring at the two of them incredulously. "…Did the both of them just fall out of the sky?" Blake asked.

"Seems like it." Yang answered, slightly weirded out. "Still, nice to see my sister drop in." A grin then grew on her face.

As if it were a signal, Ruby immediately shushed Weiss. Ignoring the angry look she got from the white-haired girl, Ruby craned her head over into Yang's direction. "…Really, Yang?" She asked dully. "That pun?"

"Hey, take what you can get." Yang held her hands up in defense. "Also, you may want to get off of Minato already."

It was at that moment that both girls wondered what exactly had broken their fall. Looking down, their eyes came to witness Minato on the ground, face first, while they both were piled on top of his face. "Whoops," Ruby said as she crawled off. "Sorry, Minato."

Weiss however was a bit louder, and her words were directed towards Ruby. "Sorry?" She asked in disbelief. "I don't think sorry would cut for something like two people falling from the sky with gravity accelerating their descent and landing on top of someone! We possibly have injured him severely! He could be in absolute agony right now!"

Right, two interactions and Yang got a good understanding of what kind of a girl Weiss was. At this point, it was more annoying rather than something to be angry at. "Ruby, why don't you go grab a relic?" The red-hooded girl wore a bit of a concerned look, but then jogged over to where Yang pointed to grab a chess piece.

Taking in a deep breath, Yang folded her arms and wore a frown. "Now listen here, princess," Her tone now took on a stern persona and made sure that she had Weiss' attention. "You're attitude towards Ruby is really starting to piss me off an even greater deal than when we first met."

"It's not my fault she's such a child." Weiss defended herself with a scoff, folding her arms back in return.

"Yeah, because she's only 15 years old." Yang stated, getting a bit of a surprised look from the white-haired girl at the sudden admittance. "But since that is the case, you should be helping set an example for her since you're the older one. And since you are, act like it."

Weiss rolled her eyes but did not reply. For a couple of seconds. "That does not change the fact that she forced me to do reckless things and hurt someone in the process!" She pointed down towards where Minato was… only to really be gesturing towards grass. Looking around, she saw that Minato was up on his feet without any sort of discomfort or indication that he had been crushed by two girls.

"…Yes?" He asked when he saw Weiss staring at him.

"…How?!" Weiss exclaimed, gesturing with both of her hands towards the blue-haired boy.

"Yang, which one did you grab?"

"Golden horse."

"Okay, thanks!"

"How what?" Minato asked as Yang and Ruby were having a conversation of which relic Yang had grabbed in the background.

"How can you get up so nonchalantly as well as not even look injured in the slightest bit?!" Weiss pointed out. "I at least expected you to be knocked out cold!"

Minato simply shrugged his shoulders.

Before Weiss could even respond, everyone's attention was diverted. A large Ursa suddenly came barging in from the forest and came right for them. As it roared in anger, Minato was quick to react. His left arm was a blur as it snapped out while the sound of a gunshot rang through the air. The Grimm then collapsed, with a single bullet hole in the center of its head. Someone dressed in pink and white, and was a ginger, then rolled off its back.

"Aww… my merry go round broke down…" The ginger seemed to pout. She then looked over to see that Minato's arm was outstretched. "You!" She suddenly dashed up towards Minato and grabbed him by the collar and shook him. "How dare you down Nora Valkyrie's steed! Sir U Ride So Awesomely was a loyal subject and my best unit, and you just killed him like a mere dog! I hope you are ready to face the conceque- Ooh, are those the relics?"

The ginger, probably now identified as Nora, threw Minato to the side and ran right towards the cess pieces.

As Minato lifted himself off the ground once more, he brushed himself off. "It's like a hyperactive combination of Yang and Ruby." He muttered to himself.

"Sorry about that."

Hearing the apology coming from a male, Minato turned his head. Approaching was a calm looking and stoic faced boy with black hair that seemed to have a pink stripe on it. "Nora's… Nora." The boy could only give the name as an explanation, but it explained so much. "Lie Ren." The boy extended his hand.

…Looking at this Ren character was like looking into a mirror… almost.

"Minato Arisato." The two of them shook hands, somehow getting the feeling that they would get along fast.

"Am I seriously the only one questioning the durability that Minato is displaying here?!" Weiss exclaimed, grabbing most of the attention again. "That girl," She pointed at Nora, who was balancing a black rook piece on her nose. "Threw Minato several feet away and he gets up like its nothing. Not five minutes earlier did Ruby and I fall on top of him and he's still unaffected!"

"You're the only one being verbal about it. Everyone else at least has a bit of common sense to know that this isn't exactly the situation that you want to question something like that." Yang pointed out. But before Weiss could say anything else, Yang continued to talk. "Well, it looks like we all have what we need. Let's start heading back."

A large shadow immediately flew above them, making everyone pause. Looking up, the sight of a Nevermore loomed above. The very bird-like Grimm peered down towards them as if they were tiny worms just waiting to be plucked from the ground. The humans on the other hand were very surprised at the sudden sight. Except for two of them.

"Ah… I forgot about that." Ruby stated.

"How could you forget about the very Grimm that we rode on and jumped off?!" Weiss questioned.

"At least that explains how you two came from the sky." Blake deadpanned.

A loud screech filled the area, and everyone covered their ears at the noise. With a few flaps of its wings, the Nevermore sudden had its feathers shoot out from such long limbs and fly to the ground like bullets.

Due to being stunned, everyone couldn't really move effectively. Fortunately, most of the feathers missed them all. "Right, as Yang said," Ruby exclaimed. "We got what we need! Now let's get out of here!"

"I believe that's easier said than done…" Pyrrha replied. Seeing Ruby give her a confused look, the red-head pointed in the direction that they were supposed to go.

Looking over, everyone realized that the Nevermore screech had attracted attention. A large Deathstalker had heard the bird Grimm's cry and came over to investigate what the commotion was about. Apparently, it didn't like the idea of humans in its territory as the massive, demonic scorpion began scuttling towards them.

"Everyone, make a break for it!" Ruby shouted suddenly, bolting towards the right into the forest. Everyone looked at one another before going after the younger girl, somewhat to Weiss' displeasure.

As their running brought then to a cliffside that had more ruins, Minato had fiddled around with his mp3 player while adjusting his single earphone. He had a feeling that a fight was going to break out.

 **(** Play **Sonic Adventure 2 – Live & Learn [EPIC METAL COVER] (Little V))**

He was right.

The chasm in front of them meant that there was nowhere to run. But that didn't mean that they were helpless. As the Nevermore was swooping down towards them, Nora was quick to react. Reaching to her back to grab a grenade launcher. She immediately began to pepper the Grimm right on its face with explosives, forcing the Nevermore to swoop back up. But that moment was short lived as it only divebombed again.

"Good job, Nora!" Ren called out as they all continued to run. It seemed that everyone knew that they had to kill these two Grimm. But a few of them were already at a bridge of the ruins, thinking that the Deathstalker behind them would follow them onto such a rocky structure.

They were partially wrong. The Grimm didn't follow them. But that didn't mean that did not attempt to harass them from afar. They were just in distance of the massive scorpion trying to constantly strike them. Minato, Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora were all on the bridge while Yang, Ruby, Blake, and Weiss were all on higher parts of the ruins dealing with the Nevermore.

After sidestepping a stringer attack, Nora rushed right in. Raising her grenade launcher, the weapon sudden grew a handle which turned the item into a hammer which she immediately used to start walloping on the Grimm. The Deathstalker raised its pincers to defend itself while attempting to retreat. But it couldn't walk backwards. Minato had grabbed onto the stinger without a second thought of being stung and made sure to pull to prevent its retreat.

When it saw this, it immediately started swinging its tail around. With nothing to help hold him down, Minato was waved around like a ragdoll until he released his grip and dropped back down next to Ren and Pyrrha. Nora meanwhile was knocked back towards the group and was fortunately caught by Ren before she could fall off the side.

"That Deathstalker's armor is next to impenetrable." Ren noted with a frown. Holding his arms out, two submachine guns with blades on the ends of the guns. "Even Nora could only seem to dent it."

"Plus, it looks as it can attack from close to mid-range." Pyrrha added. "That stringer is proving to be tougher than expected while those pincers are great for defense."

"What about the underside?" Nora asked. "The belly shouldn't have armor, right? How do we get to that?"

…No armor on the underbelly… No armor… "…What about the legs?" Minato asked, pointing towards the exact limbs that he was talking about. While the others looked over, Minato assessed the situation. "Ren, Nora, I know that we just met, but are you willing to lend me a hand?"

Both addressed people blinked at the question. Yet they nodded at the same time while one smiled ferociously.

"The both of you, go left. Pyrrha and I, right. Make sure to take out those legs first." Minato stated, rolling his neck.

Hearing confirmation from the three of them, they all leapt into action.

Splitting up into their pairs and directions Minato had assigned, Ren was the first to act, firing shots from his guns. With enough bullets, Ren was able to punch holes in the legs of the Deathstalker after leaping over one of its pincers. Sliding on the ground, he slashed with the bladed ends around the area where he shot and cut right through the weakened area with ease.

Nora on the other hand was much simpler and more brutal. Swinging her hammer like a baseball bat, she smashed right through one leg. During her spin, she jumped into the air and brought the weapon up. With a smash, she completely crushed the last leg on their side.

On the opposite side, Pyrrha handled their task with equal ease. Minato however was preoccupied with the stinger and pincers. Kicking the stinger to the left so that Pyrrha could make it to her task, Minato also took a quick shot with his left-hand multiple times which almost hit all the eyes of the bug Grimm.

Pyrrha had changed her weapon into its short sword form and with her strength, cleanly cut straight through the bottom half of the Deathstalker's leg. Tossing her shield like a deadly frisbee, she was able to just as quickly take care of the second leg. But as the shield flew and hit a tree, the metal object bounced back towards the red-head and cut right through the final leg.

As the now legless Deathstalker screeched in pain in collapsed to the ground, Minato gestured over towards Nora. "Flip it." He called out. Shooting both of his grappling claws out, they grabbed both pincers and he pulled to make sure that they couldn't swing around.

Giving Minato a vicious grin, she also performed a bit of a mock salute. "You got it!"

Letting her hammer fall to the ground, Nora skipped to the front of the Grimm. "Feel the love of Magnhild!" As the eccentric teen tapped the tip of her weapon against the Deathstalker's face, she then hefted it up. "Fore!" She yelled as she swung. Just before the weapon encountered the Grimm, Nora pulled a trigger and while shooting out another grenade.

The combination of the explosive and force behind the attack plowing right into the Grimm's jaw was powerful. As the Deathstalker took the full impact of the attack, the Grimm was sent into the air before it collapsed onto its side. Thanks to its rounded shape, the Deathstalker rolled onto its back which exposed its unprotected underbelly.

As the group approached, The Deathstalker only thrashed around as a last resort. Seeing the stringer go towards them, Minato raised his right hand and balled it into a fist. Embedding the flesh against the point, he knocked the sharp end right into the ground when it thrusted towards him at full force. Ren immediately unleashed a hail of bullets right were the tail was connected to the stinger. With a fierce slash, the large point was disconnected.

As Minato picked up the massive bulb with his two hands, Pyrrha had her shield up over top of her head. Nora immediately hopped up and onto the metal. "Express elevator, going up!" She commented, sitting on top of her hammer. As Pyrrha pushed up, Nora released another explosion and both forces launched the ginger high up into the sky.

Walking over, Minato raised the stinger up and stabbed it right into the Deathstalker. Ignoring its cries, he hopped off. Hearing a blast from above, all three of them looked up. A streak of white and pink was careening down before Nora was identified as such and slammed her hammer right onto the stinger and drove it into the Grimm's body even further.

 **(End Song)**

As the body of the Deathstalker began to disintegrate, the four of them celebrated a bit over their victory against the Grimm. Nora let out a cheer of excitement while hugging Ren. Ren just looked like he was about to collapse with a shake of his head yet smiled a bit. Pyrrha smile while Minato nodded her head.

Turning to look at the others, Minato found himself a bit pleasantly surprised to see and hear Ruby issuing orders out the rest of them listening. Well, it was no surprise for Yang. He didn't expect anything from Blake. But Weiss was the odd part.

Now, Yang and Blake were using some unusually long and elastic ribbon (or something of the sorts) to create a makeshift slingshot. Weiss meanwhile had created a glyph that created a platform for Ruby to stand on and be shot from… Or at least he assumed. The white-haired girl even seemed to have a slightest amused look on her face when trying to aim the red-hooded girl towards the Nevermore.

Unfortunately, that plan was interrupted when that exact Nevermore flapped its wings while shot more feathers in their direction. All of them were forced to scatter. Fortunately for them all, they each had platforms which they could stand on.

From Yang's perspective, she groaned at how the Nevermore was proving to be a lot more difficult than anticipated. They even had a plan at the ready but was completely ruined. But in the middle of her thoughts while seeing the Nevermore fly back around, she saw something…

A single strange of blonde hair falling into the chasm below.

"…You…"

Yang gritted her teeth.

"…Are…"

Yang balled her fists.

"DEAD!"

 **(** Play **Guilty Gear Xrd SIGN – [Heavy Day]** at **00:57)**

A massive cloud of flames roared out from where the blonde was standing. Everyone was absolutely startled at Yang sudden anger as the blonde had just snapped out of nowhere. From their perspective, they couldn't really see Yang very well due to her distance away from them.

But if someone had managed to get in close, they would have noticed that not only were her eyes red when the fire died down, but also that there was a faint amount of white aura surrounding her eyes.

Slamming her fists together and watching the Nevermore come after her due to her anger, Yang fired off a shot that was a combination of the Winter Maiden powers with her ammunition right towards one of the wings. Causing the monstrous bird to spin out control right towards her, Yang began to throw fist after fist right against its face without mercy right as it came into reach.

Hitting the top of its head with an overhead smash after her vicious combo, Yang immediately uppercut the jaw of the beast into the air. Jumping while using her gauntlets' shotgun function to boost her height, she punched the Grimm back down onto the ground with both of her fists.

Landing down next to the bird, Yang cocked her weapon and arm back before releasing a furious roar. Nailing the bird right against its face, she had released another punch enhanced by Maiden magic and her weapon which caused a small explosion upon impact.

Chasing after the body into the forest, Yang used her gauntlets once more to catch up and grabbed the Grimm. Just as the Nevermore fell onto the ground, Yang immediately started unleashing blow after blow. After a few seconds of beating the Grimm while it skidded on the ground, Yang threw the Nevermore up while flipping backwards. Swinging left and right, the head of the monster was knocked in each direction before Yang knocked it high into the air with both fists.

Quickly popping out all of her now empty shotgun shells, Yang immediately reloaded. Letting out one final roar as the body fell, Yang released a final flurry of blows at an incredible rate while expending all her ammunition. With the final blow, Yang watched the Grimm disintegrate as it soared away into the distance with satisfaction.

 **Y13 (End Song)**

"…WHAT IN ALL OF REMNANT WAS THAT?!" Weiss screeched as everyone had witnessed Yang's temper.

"Something that will happen to you if you make her mad." Minato stated.

 **Y13**

Minato stood with his hands in his pockets as he listened to Ozpin announce the names of the team that had finished along with the other students that had passed. Apparently, the way teams were organized were depending on which chess piece that was grabbed. Bit of an odd way. There may be flaws, but he couldn't really come up with it.

When it came to his and Pyrrha's turn, he was not surprised when Nora and Ren stepped up with him. Ozpin turned to regard the four teens that stood before him. "Minato Arisato, Lie Ren, Pyrrha Nikos, and Nora Valkyrie. The four of you retrieved the black rook pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team ARNN (Arsenic)… Led by Minato Arisato."

…Was this only because of him giving an idea on how they could have taken down the Deathstalker? Either way, Minato only nodded his head in thanks.

Walking off stage, the now named Team ARNN bumped into Yang, Ruby, Blake, and Weiss. Both girls which he lived with hugged him and he hugged them back. Seeing Blake stare, they both only nodded at each other in respect. The same was done for Weiss, albeit a pause on Minato's part.

Ozpin then began calling out the remaining names, which happened to be the four girls. As the four of them lined up, Ozpin began once more for the final time of the night. "Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna… and Yang Xiao Long…"

Minato and Yang both raised an eyebrow at the small pause when it came down to Yang's name.

"You four retrieved the gold knight pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team RWBY (Ruby)… Led by Ruby Rose."

Claps of congratulations erupted among the audience. Yang rushed over to crush her sister in a hug while Weiss looked offended. Blake meanwhile stood in place stoically, taking the news with what was apparently a typical brand of apathy. Ruby looked over towards Minato, who had a small smile of his own while nodding his head in her direction.

As the headmaster began walking away, his eyes stayed on Yang for a slight moment. "…" No one saw him frown in a bit of concern, but he still walked away, wondering how this new generation will turn out.

 **Y13**

"How much stuff have people lost and never retrieved for the past years?!"

Ruby shouted in absolute shock as she, Yang, and Minato were digging through piles of objects in the area that was the lost and found room. The small space was nearly covered in all sorts of objects ranging from shoes, to books, to even an expensive looking watch. All they wanted was to find a pair of headphones. They thought that since it would be the latest item possibly here, it would be at the top of the pile. But the staff member who let them in said that he did remember seeing a pair of headphones with a rose symbol on them be brought to the exact location.

"Seriously," Ruby continued, picking up a few scrolls with an odd expression before throwing them over her back and digging through the items. "It's almost alarming how apathetic people are when losing their things!"

"I don't know." Yang said, grabbing a shirt and looking over it for a couple of seconds. "People just pretty much assume that if it's missing, it's stolen. That's just the kind of society we live in." Tossing the shirt away, the blonde continued to go through the pile. "Aha, I found them!" In triumph, Yang pulled out the exact item that they were looking for.

"Awesome! Thank's Yang!" Ruby exclaimed, rushing over and grabbing the accessory eagerly. That happy emotion was tuned down a bit as she immediately held out at arms' length gingerly. "Eww, looks dirty."

"Don't worry." Yang reassured. "Pretty sure some water and sanitizer will do the justice it deserves." She then looked over towards the blue-haired male who was oddly a lot more silent than usual despite his already quiet nature. "Minato, we found what we came here for. Let's get moving. I want to get some good sleep before classes tomorrow." But the boy didn't react. "…Minato?"

"You don't have a diary, do you Ruby?"

Minato sudden question was completely out of the blue. Thankfully, none of the girls needed to ask since the boy turned around and showed them what he was talking about.

In his hands was a small white book with an emblem that looked like Ruby's but had red outlines instead of black.

Ruby and Yang both froze at the mere sight of the object in his hands, and their reactions caused Minato to frown a bit in concern. Ruby didn't even say a word, holding her hands out timidly as if asking if she could hold it.

As Ruby took it out of his hands, all she could do was stare at the small book. Looking up towards Yang, the blonde had the exact same reaction. There was a silent atmosphere amongst the three of them.

Eventually, Ruby took a deep breath and opened the book. She had flipped over towards the first page and saw that there was writing on it.

 _Dear journal,_

 _Well… perhaps I should be writing dear diary instead. Nah, journal sounds much better. I'm an adult anyways, and journal sounds like something an adult would say!_

 _Anyways, I'm writing this down as this is the start of something new. This will be a good way to make sure that I don't forget any special things so that I can show these to Ruby and Yang when they get older or if they want to know what I was up to when I'm gone._

 _Unfortunately, I was asked to go on a mission. Despite my two daughters being at such a young age and that I should be there for them, it was insisted upon me that I help. Well, I suppose it can't be that bad since I'm told it's just a recon mission. Though why me? There were plenty of other teams that were better at stealth. Qrow and Raven were both the only ones who are also ideal for stealth. But Qrow is constantly away on other missions while Raven is taking care of the tribe where they came from._

 _It wouldn't kill her to at least visit occasionally though. Not like the camp will burn down to the ground if she were gone for a few days… She even has her daughter still growing up without her! Sheesh, how Tai managed to even lay her is something both Qrow and I wonder to this day…_

 _Oh dear, I'm rambling on. Wait, can you ramble in writing?_

 _Anyways, asked to go on a mission. Accepted it in the end… unfortunately. But hopefully this will be nice in the long run. I must look on the bright side._

 _For my two daughters!_

 _Summer Rose_

 **BOOM! I've seen next to no fanfics touching up on details of how Summer possibly died. So, hopefully I can keep you guys interested long enough to see what Ruby, Yang, and Minato do to figure/find out what kind of mission Summer Rose was on… and perhaps find out how she died. After all… just being told that she died on a mission is rather vague…**

 **Originally, I was going to put a "Season 2" intro of sorts after this AN… But I'm trying to make "omakes" of sorts almost every 10 chapters if I want to put some random thing in… and this is only 6 chapters away from the previous one. So, you all are spared from bad filler…**

 **For now…**

 **No flames please.**


	29. Chapter 29

**This is a fanfic. BUY THE FUCKING MERCHANDISE!**

Opening his eyes, Minato found himself listening to a familiar piano tune.

Blinking, he rubbed the orbs that were in his skull before pushing himself up off a bench. Last time he could remember, he had fallen asleep inside of his new room at Beacon Academy with his team. But now… his settings were different. Instead of a dorm room… he was inside a funeral home.

A funeral home that was covered almost entirely in velvet blue.

"Welcome back, Minato."

Slowly turning his head, he did not feel surprised when he saw a familiar person sitting right next to him. It was rather expected that she would show up whenever he would appear. "…Mother." Minato nodded his head curtly.

Salem stared out of the corner of her eye. She eventually gave her son her full attention. "It has been a while since we have last seen each other." She replied with fingers folded over one another. "…How have you been? Perhaps… any interesting recent events?" There was a slow delivery to her words as she struggled a bit to figure out what to say.

"…Not bad." Minato eventually decided to reply with. "Recently finished the initiation test at Beacon Academy and passed."

Salem's eyes narrowed slightly. "Beacon Academy you say?" She asked.

Minato raised a brow slightly at his mother's reaction. He nodded his head in confirmation. "I also became a leader of a team, Team ARNN." The boy added.

"…I see…" Salem managed to muster up. The two then sat in silence for a few seconds. "Beacon Academy… that is the one where Ozpin is the headmaster, correct?" She then asked.

Blinking, Minato slowly nodded his head. "Yes." He answered straightly, wondering why his mother of all people would sound hostile just by saying a name alone. Well, hostile to him. Others may depict her tone has neutral.

The white-skinned female put a hand to her chin. "Has he approached either you or the Win-" Cutting herself off, she saw that Minato had already opened his mouth in an attempt to correct her. "Has Ozpin approached either you or Yang yet?"

Minato shook his head in response to her question. "No, he had not." He answered.

From his answer, Salem was confused at Minato lack of confusion. "Are you not going to ask why I ask such a question?" She asked while angling her head in curiosity.

"No." Minato said while shaking his head once more. "We were given an explanation to our situation already. Such words included to try and make sure that of all people, Professor Ozpin would not find out about our identities."

"It is important that he does not know about… Yang's nature." Salem at least didn't need to correct herself. "But what is especially crucial that he does not figure or find out about your relationship with me."

…Well, Minato could suppose that it should have been slightly obvious. With Yang's mother saying how not to trust Ozpin while being against Salem, it would imply that the two of the latter would be enemies. Still… "Would it really be that bad?" He asked.

After all, Minato was trying to become a huntsman. At first, it was because he felt like it was a way to keep an eye on Yang while he also felt like he didn't want to do anything else. But recently, due to his mother being a factor along with Yang being the Winter Maiden, he felt the responsibility to becoming a huntsman grow even bigger. Would Ozpin still react poorly just because of his relationship with his mother?

Salem knew what Minato was thinking as she only confirmed his suspicions. "Unfortunately for you, he would." She slowly brought up a hand to her chest and looked forward. "Look at me, Minato. I am an evolved Grimm who had had countless years to learn and develop my abilities. A monster and calamity trying to end human and Faunus-kind, as it is in my nature."

"…Didn't seem like that when you first developed your conscious."

Her eyes widened and snapped her eyes back towards who son. While she was surprised, Minato just stared neutrally towards the woman. "…Perhaps." Salem eventually said. "But still, imagine what he would think about someone birthed by me."

Looking down in thought, Minato took a couple of seconds to eventually nod.

Getting up to his feet, Minato turned his head to take one last look at his mother. They both knew what he was going to do next, so Salem nodded her head. Minato nodded back.

Walking towards the exit of the room, Minato could feel his consciousness be pulled away from the area.

 **Y13**

"…Is he dead?"

Nora's question caused Ren to sigh while Pyrrha kept a concerned look on Minato's unconscious body.

With morning having come out, their first day of school was to begin immediately. There were no break days or time to settle in. All teams that had survived the initiation had been given a schedule of what classes they would be attending and when.

Their first day consisted of Grimm studies for about a couple of hours. After that came lunch. Then was history. Finally, combat class. It seemed rather straight forward.

"Nora, I don't think he would have died overnight." Ren notified the ginger who was standing right next to the bed but bending right over the body in curiosity.

"But what if someone came in to kill him? Like an assassin attempting to poison his target?!" Nora speculated, scotching over to the other side of the mattress, not minding the looks that she was receiving. "Or maybe somebody cursed him into an eternal slumber!"

That was Pyrrha decided to interrupt Nora's fantasy so they all could stay on track. "What if we try waking Minato up?" She asked, adjusting her uniform. "Surely that could provide the answer to our questions."

Having both Nora and Ren's attention, the red head blinked when the ginger breathed right through her teeth. "Yeah… About that…" Nora strained out. "Our team leader may seem like Ren," That statement caused the named boy to raise an eyebrow at the comparison. "But Ren at least doesn't mind being woken up by me. Minato here on the other hand," She held an open hand in the bed's direction. "Looks like he will kill anyone that interrupts his sleeping."

"…Are you sure that he will do that though?" Ren deadpanned. "All we just have to do is give him a quick nudge to see if it startles him out of his slumber."

"Too late, I'm already awake."

All three teammates looked down. In their sights, the blue-haired boy had both of his eyes open and locked onto the ceiling. With his blank look, his head slowly rolled towards the side that Nora was on and his eyes fell upon her body.

Unfortunately for him, Nora's bed was right behind her and that's where her weapon was sitting.

"ZOMBIE!" Nora screamed in horror, grabbing the handle of what she wielded. "KILL IT WITH VIOLENCE!"

 **Y13**

The screamed of Nora followed by the noise of shattering wood was what woke Team RWBY up from their slumber.

All member jolted out from under the sheets, a couple a lot more alert than others. A certain white-haired teenager snapped her head over to the door and glared. "Does she know anything about keeping the volume down?" She growled as she begrudgingly crawled out of her bed and fumbled her way to the bathroom.

Blake also was vocal of her displeasure but was quieter about it. "Nora should at least know not to disturb her neighbors early in the morning." She frowned while rubbing her eyes.

Yang however was one of them who remained silent. Slipping off of the mattress, she walked over to the door and swung it open. With a couple of steps, she had crossed the hall where all the dorm room doors were located and found the one that belonged to Team ARNN. Rapping on the door with the back of her finger, she put it down soon after.

"You guys away over there?" Yang asked jokingly. "I can't tell with all of your screaming."

A second passed before the door opened to reveal that Pyrrha was the one who answered. "Sorry about that." The red-head blushed in embarrassment. "It's just that Minato wasn't waking up and then he suddenly was awake which startled Nora…"

Blinking at Pyrrha's report, Yang leaned over to see past the girl in order to assess the event that had been described. Indeed, it was what Pyrrha had revealed.

Panting in both horror and relief, Nora was bent forward with both hands on the handle of her weapon that was in its hammer form. At the end of the heavy, blunt end of the object was Minato's face while the rest of the body had been smashed right through the bed frame and quite possibly the floor.

To that scene, Yang whistled. "Wow, first Weiss and Ruby falling on top of you. After that is Nora throwing you across an open field. Now your face has been smashed in and your body clean through solid wood. The beginning of Beacon has not been so kind to you, huh?"

"You could say that." Minato agreed with the blonde's assessment as his eyes had traveled down to look at her. "Good morning by the way."

"Morning." Yang waved. She then grinned. "Guess this means we're sleeping in the same bed again until the headmaster gets a new one put back and the floor fixed."

"Yes, it does seem like that." Minato then looked back up towards Nora. "Nora, could you please take your weapon off me?" He asked the ginger. "I need to quickly shower and change before breakfast. What time is it anyways?"

"Ah, sorry." Nora apologized, looking in a direction that was away from Minato as she lifted her hammer up. At least she looked like she regretted what she had done. "I didn't mean to hurt you… You just startled me, that's all."

"Hah!"

As Minato had climbed back up to his feet, grabbed his uniform, and slipped into the bathroom, the rest of the members of Team ARNN turned their heads over to Yang who had laughed at Nora's words. "That? Hurt him?" The blonde asked. "I mean – yeah – he can still feel pain. But it is next to impossible to hurt him so badly that it causes him discomfort. Let me tell you about the one time I punch him in the dick as hard as I could."

"You don't need to tell them that story, Yang." Minato interrupted. "They got the point."

 **Y13**

Ruby was being awfully quiet and unfocused… That mood was making Weiss extremely annoyed judging by the look on the girl's face.

Sitting in Grimm studies was… odd to say the least in Minato's mind. To Yang, it was completely boring. Their teacher, Professor Port, being awfully jolly and boisterous despite his middle-aged look, was constantly getting off topic. One minute he would be describing the many Grimm that they would face, certain facts that one would not find in a textbook, and the next few he would be going on about stories of the many adventures he had been on.

If the two of them could accumulate how much time was spent on actual teaching… it would be about 15 minutes.

But that was not the real problem in their eyes. Minato had already copied down the biological diagrams that were posted up at the front of the classroom while Yang had liberating them off him some side notes that he had personally taken. But when that was done and they both concluded that they wouldn't be learning much this lecture, their eyes wandered.

That was when their sights fell on Ruby and Weiss.

Ruby was just… staring at a blank page. That would have been a moment for Yang to try and attempt to snap her younger sister out of her trance. But rather than a blank expression to accompany it, Ruby's face was heavy as if she had a lot on her mind. Which she most likely did with the sudden appearance of her mom's diary.

Minato remembered the explanation that was provided to him. Summer Rose, biological mother of Ruby and step-mother to Yang. Yang claimed that Summer was a super mom… which apparently meant being a baker of cookies and slayer of monsters. Well, the monster slaying thing stopped when she had Ruby. At least it did stop until Ruby was around the age of a toddler when Summer suddenly went on a mission and never came back.

With that explanation, it was confirmed that the last mission their mother was on was related to what had been written in that diary. But that begged the question, what was the diary doing in Beacon in the first place? Did this academy have to do with something related to her recon mission? What exactly was it that she was supposed to investigate?

This was Minato speculating about it however. There was a good chance that Ruby or Yang would have gone through the diary last night when he had to go into his own dorm room.

Hearing a bell ring, Minato assumed that was the indication that class was over. After Professor Port dismissed them, Team RWBY and Team ARNN both packed up their things (Ruby being a bit more sluggish than even Minato) before heading towards the cafeteria for lunch.

It was a rather uneventful small period of time. They had arrived at the large eating area, they grabbed some food that the workers had whipped up for them, and then they all found a spot that was perfect for each and every one of them.

At that moment, their quiet moment was ruined thanks to the white-haired individual of the group.

"What is up with you?!" Weiss scowled towards Ruby, who was looking down at her food with a lot on her mind. "You're supposed to be our leader, aren't you? Then why didn't you pay attention in class?!"

As Minato had set himself down, his head turned towards Weiss and his face began to twitch. Once again, Weiss was venting towards the smaller girl. This anger was likely a combination of the frustration she experienced from Ruby yesterday and the fact of how the white-haired girl was not the team leader.

But after enough verbal assault that Weiss was directing towards Ruby, Yang slammed her fork onto her tray and snapped her head over. "Why don't you shut up already!?" The blonde yelled, her eyes turning blood red as she snatched the collar of Weiss. "Ruby has a lot on her mind right now!"

"It's not my fault that is the case, Xiao Long!" Weiss argued back. "I'm just trying to get her to get her back on track and do her duty as the leader of this team! That is if she is capable of acting like a leader at all!"

"What exactly is that supposed to mean?" Yang snarled, ignoring the slaps that Weiss was giving to her hands.

"It means exactly what it means!" Weiss replied. "She is nothing but an annoying child! Too young to normally attend Beacon, coming up with stupid plans for initiation, and now she doesn't pay attention in class! Ruby is too self-centered to be the leader!"

As the argument got more heated by the seconds, none of them noticed that they had gotten an audience from every single student in the lunchroom. Some were even getting off of their seats and heading out, perhaps to grab a teacher to help settle the matter.

Minato looked around him. The other students just watched as they were the only interesting thing going on in the room. Nora of all people looked worried, the same could be said for all of his teammates. Blake stared at Ruby before giving the girl a surprising pat on the shoulder of comfort, but the red-hooded girl didn't even notice.

As the girls continued to argue, no one noticed Minato get off his seat at stroll over. Standing between the, his left hand worked fast. With two swift chop motions, Minato struck Yang's knuckles on both hands before grabbing the sleeves to yank them back.

While the both of them were surprised at the sudden interruption, Yang was the first to recover when she recognized who was capable of such dexterity. "The freaking heck, Minato?!" She exclaimed. "What was that for?! If it's anyone's fault, it's Weiss! She's yelling at Ruby for no good reason without even asking what is wrong!"

"…Both of you are at fault." Minato said with a low voice.

Weiss, who was originally giving Yang a smug look, wore a shock expression on her face. She then felt a vice grip tighten against the back of her head.

With a sudden blur of his right arm, Minato slammed Weiss' face down which split the table in two.

 **No flames please.**


End file.
